The harmonization of tick sizes (the smallest possible change in share price) aims at minimizing implicit transaction costs when trading with Nordic equities and increasing liquidity on the Nordic markets. As a result of the tick size harmonization, the tick sizes of OMXS30, OMXH25 and OMXC20 equities will decrease by 47% on average, which will result in significant cost savings for investors. In addition, tick size harmonization lowers the barrier for cross border trading.

"The introduction of a new, harmonized tick size regime for our Nordic most liquid shares is part of our continuous effort to support the liquidity and efficiency of our Nordic markets. The harmonization of tick sizes across borders and marketplaces will benefit all market participants as well as investors", said Hans-Ole Jochumsen, President of NASDAQ OMX Nordic.

One of the visible changes for the most liquid Nordic shares resulting from the harmonization is the introduction of a third decimal for share prices below 10 EUR/SEK/DKK and a fourth decimal for share prices lower than 1 EUR/SEK/DKK. For these shares, investors can enter orders with finer granularity, up to the maximum amount of decimals allowed by the new tick size regime. Trade prices will be rounded to the nearest currency unit with two decimals.

NASDAQ OMX Nordic implements new tick size tables in accordance with the agreement reached by the Federation of European Exchanges, the London Investment Banking Association and a number of European MTFs in July 2009. The aim of the agreement is to harmonise the tick size regimes in Europe and thus deliver multiple benefits to the markets, users and investors by simplifying the complexity and number of regimes being used.