Finland
“Among individual Finnish companies there are a host of good performers in 2010. PKC Group and Nordic Aluminium, for example, are both up about 90%. Almost two dozen firms have had their share price increase by about half or more, while a wide range of corporations listed on the exchange have seen their stocks climb 30% or more.”
Long history of dynamic trading NASDAQ OMX Helsinki has a long history, having been founded as the Helsinki Stock Exchange (HSE) in 1912 as Finland’s first organised and regulated stock exchange. It has steadily evolved over the years to meet investors’ needs. In December 1997, the cash and derivatives marketplace of the HSE and SOM merged to become Helsinki Exchanges, and in 1998 Helsinki Exchanges and the Central Securities Depository (APK) merged to form the HEX Group. In 2001 and 2002, HEX became the majority shareholder of the TSE Group, which includes the Tallinn Exchange, the Estonian Securities Depository and the Riga Stock Exchange, the sole shareholder of the Latvian Securities Depository (LCD). In 2003, OM the parent company of the Stockholm Stock Exchange - bought HEX, and the stock exchange operators merged. In addition, in 2006 the Copenhagen Stock Exchange and the Iceland Stock Exchange became part of OMX, the operator of stock exchanges in the Nordic and Baltic regions. NASDAQ OMX was formed when OMX merged with the American technology stock exchange NASDAQ in 2007. Today, NASDAQ OMX is the world’s largest exchange company, delivering trading, exchange technology and public company services across six continents, with more than 3,600 listed companies. NASDAQ OMX technology supports the operations of over 70 stock exchanges, clearing organisations and stock market centres in over 50 countries.
NASDAQ OMX Nordic and NASDAQ OMX Baltic: investors’ gateway In the Nordic and Baltic regions, NASDAQ OMX owns and operates the stock exchanges in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Reykjavik, Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius as well as Helsinki. NASDAQ OMX Nordic and NASDAQ OMX Baltic are investors’ preferred access points to these
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securities markets. Both offer cross border trading and clearing of equities, ETFs, convertibles, fixed income, commodities, warrants and derivatives, on highly efficient trading systems. In 2009, OMXS30 was the third most traded domestic index in Europe; it is a member of the Standard & Poors 500 Index. The NASDAQ OMX Nordic web site provides details about listed companies and other information concerning all the group’s exchanges in the Nordic region, including the Helsinki exchange.
Highest international standards The Helsinki exchange meets the highest international standards. Activity is regulated by the Securities Markets Act, and Finland’s Financial Supervision Authority (FSA) supervises financial markets and participants; FSA regulations complement Finnish legislation for credit institutions and capital markets. Finland’s Ministry of Finance is responsible for strategic policies on financial markets and ensures that the legislative framework is efficient and world class.
Helsinki exchange goes green In mid December 2010, the Helsinki exchange demonstrated its forward-thinking policies when it was designated by the World Wildlife Fund Green Office as the first Green Office Exchange in the world. WWF’s Green Office is a practical environmental program for companies which aim to reduce the environmental impact of offices, to slow down climate change and to increase staff’s awareness of ecological consumption by encouraging them to act in an environmentally friendly way. Lauri Rosendahl, President of NASDAQ OMX Helsinki, explains, “For NASDAQ OMX Helsinki, the idea for the programme was originally presented as an employee initiative. Awareness of environmental issues is constantly increasing and we wanted to do our part to make the necessary changes, similar to what many of our listed companies on the Helsinki stock exchange have already done. In addition, this project represented a way for the Helsinki team to do something good together and it has already received a lot of interest in the other offices of the NASDAQ OMX group. We strive to make this a Finnish export product inside the NASDAQ OMX group.”