Single Baltic Stock Market Close To Reality, Says SEB

According to SEB in Stockholm, the idea of a joint Baltic stock market is advancing rapidly. The Baltic stock exchanges in Vilnius, Riga, and Tallinn have already harmonized their rulebooks and fee schedules and established cross border DvP clearing and

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According to SEB in Stockholm, the idea of a joint Baltic stock market is advancing rapidly. The Baltic stock exchanges in Vilnius, Riga, and Tallinn have already harmonized their rulebooks and fee schedules and established cross-border DvP clearing and settlement links.

Cross-exchange membership, a common Baltic list of securities, a common index for the Baltic markets (BALTIX) and joint Baltic trading statistics (from Baltic Market Data Web) are all in place.

OMX, which acquired the Vilnius Stock Exchange in Lithuania in May of last year, is already migrating local trading activity on to the SAXESS platform it uses elsewhere. The migration project is scheduled for completion by May 2005. The first market-wide acceptance test will be held at the end of March, with completion scheduled for May this year.

Simultaneously, the VSE is working with the Lithuanian Securities Commission on the new trading rules, which will be harmonized with the NOREX rulebook. The Central Securities Depository of Lithuania – in which OMX has a minority holding – is working separately on local and cross-border clearing and settlement services.

“Once SAXESS is in use, all NOREX members will have access to the eight Nordic Baltic markets, and the Baltic stock exchanges will have realized the idea of a joint Baltic market and the potential this has to offer,” says a spokeswoman for SEB in Stockholm. “The differences between the three markets will be minimized, and investors, member firms, listed companies and information vendors will all be offered a one-stop-shop to all Baltic markets.”

According to SEB, cross-membership of two Baltic markets – such as Vilnius and Tallinn – the total membership fee is Euros 8,000 a year. For cross-membership in all Baltic markets, the total membership fee is Euros 10,000 a year.

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