Tallinn, Riga Exchanges launch realtime datafeed link

09.07.1999 TLN

Joint Press Release of the Tallinn Stock Exchange and the Riga Stock Exchange
July 9, 1999

The Stock Exchanges of Tallinn and Riga launched on Friday a real-time data link, enabling brokers in Estonia and Latvia to simultaneously view price and trading information of both markets on their terminals.

"It is the first tangible outcome of the integration drive of the Baltic exchanges and a significant first step towards the creation of a single stock market in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania," said Gert Tiivas, managing director of the Tallinn Stock Exchange.

"This new service benefits investors as members of both exchanges can now get trading information in a fast and reliable way," he added.

"The majority of international investors view the Baltics as a single region and we need to move quickly to provide members with the necessary tools to help meet investor needs," Tiivas said.

Uldis Cerps, president of the Riga Stock Exchange: "We have made this step together with the Tallinn Stock Exchange and I hope it will be seen as a clear sign that Baltic cooperation is not just uncertain plans for sometime to come but that it is going ahead successfully."

"It is a step towards accomplishing a one-stop-shop for Baltic equities. We hope that the National Stock Exchange of Lithuania will soon join this project," he added.

"The datafeed project will also help brokers to focus their clients’ attention on the Baltic markets versus other investment alternatives. The value added to the members is accuracy and speed of market information at no additional cost. Furthermore, this project will allow to promote companies listed on the Riga Stock Exchange in Estonia and vice versa," Uldis Cerps said.

The Lithuanian Stock Exchange is currently not a member in the datafeed project, but Tallinn and Riga remain hopeful to have it participate by the end of the year.

In April this year, the Baltic Exchanges signed a memorandum of understanding seeking to further expand mutually beneficial co-operation. Work is under way to examine the next steps towards linking the markets along with the creation of Baltic list of local blue-chip companies.

Presently the combined market capitalisation of the Estonian and Latvian equity markets exceeds 2 billion USD, making it the 5th largest in Central and Eastern Europe.

The integration of the Baltic Exchanges is supported by the Estonian and Latvian depositories who are working closely together to address settlement issues, aiming to upgrade current free of payment securities transfers to DVP model by year’s end.

Additional information:

Eva Palu
Head of Investor Relations Dpt
Tallinn Stock Exchange
Tel: +372 64 08 840
e-mail:

Ilze Nagla
Manager of Public Relations Dpt
Riga Stock Exchange
Tel: +371 7 212 431

Diana Sokolova
Public Relations Manager
National Stock Exchange of Lithuania
Tel: +370 2 723 871