TALLINN STOCK EXCHANGE

ANNOUNCEMENT

04.11.99

 

BALTIC CO-OPERATION MEETING

 

On Thursday, 04.11.1999, the chief executives of the three Baltic 

Exchanges held their regular meeting in Riga to discuss the 

co-operation between Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian stock 

exchanges and their integration with the NOREX Alliance.

 

The three Exchanges co-ordinated their positions for the 

negotiations to be held between the Baltic bourses and NOREX, the 

alliance composed of the Stockholm and Copenhagen stock exchanges. 

NOREX and Baltic exchanges intend to sign the Letter of Intent 

before the end of the current year.

 

Secondly, the Exchanges approved the principles of the Baltic List 

of 'blue chip' securities, and agreed to launch it as of January 

2000. The list will consist of up to 15 largest firms listed on the 

Official Lists of the three Exchanges, whereas no more than seven 

will be from one country.

 

All of the Baltic List companies must have a minimum market 

capitalisation of 15 million euros (EEK 234 million). Companies' 

free float must comply with the respective European Union 

directive, pursuant to which at least 25 per cent of a company's 

listed shares must be in public, or less if a sufficient amount of 

liquidity is guaranteed for the security. The financial statements 

of the Baltic List companies must be composed in accordance with 

the International Accounting Standards (IAS) in order to ensure 

reliability and transparency.

 

The exact composition of the Baltic List will be agreed on by the 

end of the year. Next year the Exchanges plan to launch an index to 

reflect the price changes in the securities listed on the Baltic 

List.

 

The chief executives of the three Baltic bourses also decided to 

appeal to the regulators of the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian 

securities markets to express their concern about the slow progress 

in the areas which would enable the launch of the common Baltic 

securities market. The statement will regard mutual recognition of 

security intermediary licenses and harmonisation of requirements 

set for securities brokerages to provide the stock exchange members 

simplified access to all three markets. Only Latvian Securities 

Commission, however, has prepared the respective proposals to 

conform the law with the European Union standards. The Exchanges 

feel strongly that the current regulative barriers inhibit the 

integration of the three securities markets into single financial 

market.

 

In addition, the Exchanges discussed joint marketing strategies for 

the coming year and decided to launch a common internet homepage. 

 

Additional information:

 

Eva Palu

Head of Investor Relations Dept.

+372 64 08 840

 

 

TSE