NASDAQ OMX Riga awards Broker of the Year 2011 and gives Special Award 2011

27.01.2012 RIG

January 27, 2012, Riga – As part of the annual Baltic Market Awards ceremony, NASDAQ OMX Riga gave the traditional annual awards. Kaspars Kurmiņš from Citadele banka was named Broker of the Year 2011, while Special Award 2011 went to Salvis Lapiņš, a Management Board Member of Olainfarm. 

Kaspars Kurmiņš, the winner of the Broker of the Year 2011 title, was the top trader among Latvian brokers in terms of number of trades, which was more than 1600. Apart from that, Kurmiņš also had the largest trading turnover in Baltic equities, amounting to EUR 2.5 million. The winner of the Broker of the Year title had also one of the best scores in peer voting, and was highly appraised by the stock exchange Trading Department.

This is the 15th year since inception of the Broker of the Year award. By giving this award, the stock exchange expresses its gratitude to the best securities trader of the past year, as well as intends to increase the public prestige of the broker’s profession.

Special Award 2011 went to Salvis Lapiņš, a Management Board Member of Olainfarm. He responded to the stock exchange invitation and took the challenge of participating in the first investor webinar in the Latvian market. Investor webinars or web-based seminars are practiced worldwide by listed companies to communicate with investors, and allow establishing dialogue with investors and improving the company visibility. The first investor webinar is an important step towards improved investor relations in Latvian listed companies and brings our investor relations nearer to the Western standards. After the webinar the exchange received much positive feedback, and the initiative was especially praised by foreign investors.

Since 2000 Special Award is given for outstanding contribution to the Latvian securities market and its development. Up to now, the prizewinners have been representatives of bank, academic community, media, as well as companies.

About NASDAQ OMX

The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. is the world’s largest exchange company. It delivers trading, exchange technology and public company services across six continents, with more than 3,500 listed companies. NASDAQ OMX offers multiple capital raising solutions to companies around the globe, including its U.S. listings market, NASDAQ OMX Nordic, NASDAQ OMX Baltic, NASDAQ OMX First North, and the U.S. 144A sector. The company offers trading across multiple asset classes including equities, derivatives, debt, commodities, structured products and exchange-traded funds. NASDAQ OMX technology supports the operations of over 70 exchanges, clearing organizations and central securities depositories in more than 50 countries.  NASDAQ OMX Nordic and NASDAQ OMX Baltic are not legal entities but describe the common offering from NASDAQ OMX exchanges in Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Iceland, Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. For more information about NASDAQ OMX, visit http://www.nasdaqomx.com. Please follow NASDAQ OMX on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/nasdaqomx) and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/nasdaqomx).