Latvian Central Depository has Compiled the Latvian Securities Market Statistics for 2011

27.03.2012 RIG

Riga, March 27, 2012 – Latvian Central Depository (LCD) has compiled the Latvian securities market statistics for 2011. The report provides data about all the securities issues registered in Latvia, securities transactions and the volumes settled by the LCD, as well as about the number of investors and the structure of investor base in Latvia. The data have been supplied by all LCD participants – banks, brokerage companies etc..

LCD performs registration, accounting and settlement for all publicly listed securities in Latvia, as well as for the securities that have been registered with the LCD upon the request of their owners.  

Statistics in detail is available: www.nasdaqbaltic.com/en/csds/latvian-csd/stats/ ; please find below the highlights:

 

Number of securities in Latvia

• As of 31.12.2011, 160 different securities issues with total value LVL 1.7 billion were registered with the Latvian Central Depository, including equities, debt securities of the government and companies, investment fund units. A part of them with aggregate value of LVL 1.3 billion are listed and traded on NASDAQ OMX Riga. Also several private closed joint stock companies have registered their shares with LCD.  

How active is trading in Latvian securities?    

• In 2011 LCD settled altogether 53 268 trades worth LVL 665 million (stock exchange trades and OTC transactions, including FOP transfers):
  • The volume of equity trading has reached LVL 56.8 million, which is by 118% more than in 2010;
  • The turnover of debt securities in 2011 was LVL 607.5, made of trading in corporate bonds, as well as the settlement provided by LCD for the government bond primary placement auctions organized by NASDAQ OMX Riga;
  • Turnover in investment fund units amounted to LVL 0.8 million.

How many investors are there in Latvia? 

• The number of securities accounts opened with LCD members in 2011 was 93 984, meaning that there are over 90 thousand investors in Latvia. Only in 20% of securities accounts there are no Latvia-registered securities, suggesting that Latvian investors, when building their investment portfolios, are willing to include Latvian securities.  
• Latvia-registered securities are kept on 74 688 securities accounts, and 98% of their owners are natural persons.  

Who owns the Latvia-registered securities (in terms of value)?  

• The owners of securities registered with LCD – equities, debt securities, investment fund units – are: residents 47%, non-residents 23%, and 30% are LCD participants – banks and brokerage companies;  
• As to legal status, majority are legal entities (71%), natural persons 11%, investment funds 13%, and banks and brokerage companies 5%;   
• As to geographical breakdown of shareholders,  51% investors are from Latvia, 16% from Germany, 9% from Switzerland, 8% from Russia, 6% and 4% from our neighbors Lithuania and Estonia respectively.

How many new investors are there?

• In 2011, the Latvian banks and brokerage companies opened 9370 new securities accounts with both Latvia-registered and other securities. 92% of the new accounts were opened by natural persons. To large extent the notable number of new accounts can be explained by the Latvijas Krājbanka crisis. The clients of this bank did not lose any of their securities holdings when the bank crashed, because clients’ securities are kept off the bank’s balance sheet, and the clients were able to transfer their portfolios to other banks by opening a new securities account.  

 

 

Indars Aščuks, Chairman of the Management Board, Latvian Central Depository, sums up the year: „It is important to mention that in 2011 businesses displayed an increasing interest in registering the shares of private joint stock companies with the LCD on a voluntary basis, thus promising a higher safety of shareholdings for the owners of these joint stock companies, and protection against corporate raiderism attempts, not at all infrequent recently. By registering the shares with Latvian Central Depository, it is possible to convert them and transfer to the shareholders’ securities accounts with banks and keep them similar to cash.”

 

 

About the Latvian Central Depository

Latvian Central Depository has the status of National securities depository, and performs the functions of central bank for securities: it provides electronic accounting, safe-keeping and clearing and settlement for all Latvia-listed securities as well as for other securities registered with the LCD. Latvian Central Depository is an experienced national level registrar of electronic registers – in partnership with the State Social Insurance Agency it is maintaining the register of individual accounts for the second pillar of Latvian pension system. Latvian Central Depository also runs the Central share register for securities that once were exchanged for privatization vouchers and have not been transferred to securities accounts in banks. Latvian Central Depository manages shareholder registers for private joint stock companies, thus assuring high security for shareholders’ title. Latvian Central Depository is a daughter company of NASDAQ OMX Riga (the former Riga Stock Exchange). Read more: www.depozitarijs.lv

More information:
Anda Zvīgule
Corporate communications specialist, Latvian Central Depository
+37167212431, Anda.Zvigule@nasdaqomx.com