Oslo Bors ASA has been granted a licence to establish a new, authorised marketplace for shares – Oslo Axess – which will open for business in May. The Board of Oslo Bors has approved the final rules and admission requirements for Oslo Axess, which will be less stringent than for the existing marketplace Oslo Bors.
In conjunction with the launch of Oslo Axess, Oslo Bors is strengthening some features of the requirements for admission to listing on the normal stock exchange market. In addition, the current Main List and SMB List will be amalgamated to a single stock exchange list.
The main difference between Oslo Axess and the Oslo Bors market will be less demanding requirements for admission to Oslo Axess. However, once companies are listed on Oslo Axess they will have to follow the same rules and regulations that apply to companies listed on the Oslo Bors market, and the investor protection will be equivalent to that as on Oslo Bors.
According to the stock exchange, this will serve to differentiate Oslo Axess from what are known as the alternative marketplaces that have been established in a number of European countries over recent years.
The rules and admission requirements for Oslo Axess, together with the changes in the rules for the ordinary stock exchange market, can be found on Oslo Bors web-site. Currently this information is only available in the local language, but according to the stock exchange, an English translation will be in place by end March.
Trading on Oslo Axess will be carried out in the same trading system and under the same regulatory framework as for Oslo Bors. Existing stock exchange members will be granted membership automatically by returning an underwritten copy of an agreement sent by the stock exchange.