Swedbank Joins the Baltic Market Maker Program

01.09.2014 TLN

Tallinn/Riga/Vilnius, Baltic Market, September 1st, 2014 – The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) announces that as of September 1st, Swedbank joins the Baltic market maker program and becomes a liquidity provider for three shares traded on the Baltic Market: Tallink Grupp, Olympic Entertainment Group and Merko Ehitus.

Market maker’s task is to maintain the bid and offer orders of certain size at the defined price spread throughout the trading day and thus to provide extra liquidity.

“Increasing liquidity is clearly one of our top priorities. And now, as Swedbank has joined the Baltic market maker program, we have all the most active stock exchange members participating in it,” said Rauno Klettenberg, CEO of NASDAQ OMX Tallinn. “Having them in the program should be a delight for investors because the more market makers for different shares there are, the better are the prices investors will get.”

Investors’ benefits include reduced cost and reduced liquidity risk through more efficient pricing. Market makers make listed companies more attractive for investors, especially for those seeking large-size investments.

“We see an opportunity to support and develop the regional securities market by participating in the program and offering extra liquidity to investors. Having market makers on board always adds a dose of reliability to trading which benefits both investors and the market as a whole,” said Simmo Sommer, the Head of Swedbank’s Baltic equity trading. “We hope to add also other shares to our market-making list over the course of time.”

The Baltic Market Making Program foresees that a participant has to ensure that the bid and offer orders with the value of not less than EUR 3000 have to be available for selected shares during opening and closing auctions, as well as during 85 percent of the trading period. The price spread between bid and offer orders cannot be higher than 2.5%.

Swedbank will be joining four Baltic members who already participate in the program: LHV Pank (market maker for Apranga, Olympic Entertainment Group, Tallinna Kaubamaja and Tallinna Vesi), SEB Pank (market maker for Apranga, Linas Agro Group, Olympic Entertainment Group, LESTO, Tallink Grupp, TEO LT, Tallinna Kaubamaja and Tallinna Vesi), Orion Securities (market maker for City Service, TEO LT and Vilkyškių pieninė) and Bankas Finasta (market maker for Grigiškės, Linas Agro Group, Olympic Entertainment Group, Olainfarm, Tallink Grupp and TEO LT).

About NASDAQ OMX Group 
NASDAQ OMX (NASDAQ: NDAQ) is a leading provider of trading, exchange technology, information and public company services across six continents. Through its diverse portfolio of solutions, NASDAQ OMX enables customers to plan, optimize and execute their business vision with confidence, using proven technologies that provide transparency and insight for navigating today’s global capital markets. As the creator of the world’s first electronic stock market, its technology powers more than 70 marketplaces in 50 countries, and 1 in 10 of the world’s securities transactions. NASDAQ OMX is home to more than 3,400 listed companies with a market value of over $8.5 trillion and more than 10,000 corporate clients. Read more: www.nasdaqomx.com.

NASDAQ OMX Baltic Market is a common name for exchanges, regulated markets, alternative markets First North operated by NASDAQ OMX companies in the Baltic States, i.e. NASDAQ OMX Tallinn AS, AS NASDAQ OMX Riga and AB NASDAQ OMX Vilnius. Read more: www.nasdaqbaltic.com.