Nasdaq OMX steps up assault on Oslo Børs

Nasdaq OMX Nordic, operator of the national exchanges in Sweden, Finland and Denmark, will start trading Norwegian derivatives from 14 September, exerting further competitive pressure on Norwegian exchange Oslo Børs.
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Nasdaq OMX Nordic, operator of the national exchanges in Sweden, Finland and Denmark, will start trading Norwegian derivatives from 14 September, exerting further competitive pressure on Norwegian exchange Oslo Børs.

Oslo Børs remains the only domestic exchange in the Nordic region outside of Nasdaq OMX’s control, after talks to join the exchange group broke down over technology provisions around the time Nasdaq bought OMX in 2007.

From next week, Nasdaq OMX will offer its members the chance to trade 15 Norwegian single-stock derivatives, as well as contracts based on a new index, the OMX Oslo 20, comprising the 20 most-traded shares on the Oslo Børs.

As a result of Nasdaq OMX’s derivatives foray, Oslo Børs will exit the agreement that allows its members access to Nasdaq OMX Nordic derivatives and grants Nasdaq OMX Nordic members reciprocal access to Oslo Børs-listed derivatives from 19 December.

Nasdaq OMX started trading Norwegian shares in March, making it the only domestic exchange group to take advantage of MiFID’s capabilities for regulated exchanges to trade stocks from other countries. According to the Fidessa Fragmentation Index, a weekly analysis of on-order-book European trading, Nasdaq OMX accounted for 0.05% of trading in the Oslo OBX blue chip index in the week ending 4 September.

“Earlier this year we launched trading in Norwegian equities, and it made sense to expand our offering with Norwegian derivatives,” said Hans-Ole Jochumsen, president, Nasdaq OMX Nordic, in a statement. “The contracts will be traded on the same liquid market as other prominent Nordic derivatives, including OMXS30, which today is one of the most traded indexes in Europe.”

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