Source: Oslo Børs VPS
Over recent years, the activities carried out by the Oslo Børs VPS group have been characterised by high activity levels, with many new companies admitted to listing and strong growth in trading and settlement in terms of both overall value and the number of transactions.
In order to further strengthen the group's competitiveness, both Oslo Børs and VPS will introduce reductions in fees from 1 September.
For customers of Oslo Børs, the changes represent:
A discount of 20% on trading fees for the 5 most heavily traded shares by volume.A discount of 25% on trading fees for all transactions carried out through the Oslo Børs trading system where the same member firm/broker is both buyer and seller.A reduction in fees for reporting "off exchange" transactions.
The five most traded shares listed on Oslo Børs in 2007 were StatoilHydro, Norsk Hydro, Yara, Telenor and REC. Most traded shares will normally be determined for a 6-12 months period, based on market activity the previous 6 months.
For customers of VPS, the changes represent:The fee charged for settlement of stock exchange trades drops from NOK 4 to NOK 3.20, equivalent to a reduction of 20%.
These decisions will cause a net reduction in annual revenue of approx. NOK 43 million for Oslo Børs VPS, based on figures for trading volume in 2007. Based on figures for trading volume for the first quarter of 2008, the new pricing would represent a reduction in revenue of approx. NOK 14 million in this quarter.
Oslo Børs and VPS merged in November 2007. One important objective for the merger was to offer the group's customers even more attractive products, services and prices. The group is committed to pricing that is competitive and actively encourages greater use of the marketplaces and settlement services. Including this price reduction, VPS in total has reduced its prices for settlement with approx. 40% and prices for account management services with up to 30% since 2007. VPS reduced its prices for settlement products by over 10% with effect from January 2008, in addition to reducing prices on account management services by up to 30%. Oslo Børs reduced the fees charged for trading in July 2007.