Vilnius Stock Exchange, one of six exchanges within OMX Exchanges, today successfully launched the common Nordic trading platform SAXESS for trading on the cash markets.
SAXESS is already in use at the stock exchanges in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Riga and Tallinn (all exchanges owned by OMX) as well as the stock exchanges in Oslo and Iceland. The launch of SAXESS, developed and operated by OMX Technology, is a milestone in OMX's effort to realize the vision of an integrated Nordic and Baltic securities market.
The final step of implementing Vilnius to the SAXESS platform is an important part of the harmonization of all the cash markets in the region. It provides customer benefits, such as harmonized Nordic and Baltic trading rules as well as one access point to eight different markets. The trading platform SAXESS and the common NOREX Member Rules are now in use in all the Nordic and Baltic marketplaces: Copenhagen, Oslo, Iceland, Stockholm, Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius.
The objective of the NOREX Alliance is to create a joint, fully integrated marketplace for financial instruments, generating benefits for customers, including increased liquidity, more efficient member access, a broader service range and lower costs when connecting to Nordic markets.
NOREX was the first stock exchange alliance in the world to implement a common system for share trading and to harmonise the trading and membership rules and regulations for exchanges in different countries, and the NOREX vision has now become a reality as Vilnius was the last alliance partner to join the SAXESS platform.
"The implementation of SAXESS in Vilnius supports our strategy and vision. Thanks to our extensive experience in both the technology and exchange business, we have taken an important step in this successful harmonization of cash markets in the Nordic and Baltic region in a short period of time," said Magnus Böcker, President and CEO of OMX, expressing appreciation for the efforts of all market participants.
Through the single access point to the common trading platform, OMX Exchanges now offers access to approximately 80 percent of the Nordic and Baltic equity market. OMX Exchanges offers services to 677 listed companies and 144 trading members. The total market value of all listed companies amounts to EUR 601 billion.
The joint Baltic market
OMX's creation of a Nordic and Baltic marketplaces is done in parallel Baltic and Nordic steps. The Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius stock exchanges form a joint Baltic market to simplify access and minimize investment barriers. The joint Baltic market has a common list of Baltic securities, a common index and harmonized listing, trading and disclosure rules. The joint Baltic market also comprises common market statistics on the Internet as well as a cross-border Delivery versus Payment, DVP, link that connects the Baltic central securities depositories.