OMX
Encyclopedia
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
-Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
financial services
Financial services
Financial services refer to services provided by the finance industry. The finance industry encompasses a broad range of organizations that deal with the management of money. Among these organizations are credit unions, banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, consumer finance companies,...
company, formed in 2003 through a merger between OM AB and HEX plc and is now a part of the NASDAQ OMX Group
NASDAQ OMX Group
NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. is a United States public company that owns and operates the NASDAQ stock market and eight European stock exchanges in Armenia plus the Nordic and Baltic regions under the OMX banner...
since February 2008.
It has two divisions, OMX Exchanges, which operates eight stock exchange
Stock exchange
A stock exchange is an entity that provides services for stock brokers and traders to trade stocks, bonds, and other securities. Stock exchanges also provide facilities for issue and redemption of securities and other financial instruments, and capital events including the payment of income and...
s mainly in the Nordic
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
and Baltic countries
Baltic countries
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
, and OMX Technology, which develops and markets systems for financial transactions used by OMX Exchanges, as well as by other stock exchanges. The company is a world leader in financial instruments trading systems.
Origins
OM AB (Optionsmäklarna) was a futures exchangeFutures exchange
A futures exchange or futures market is a central financial exchange where people can trade standardized futures contracts; that is, a contract to buy specific quantities of a commodity or financial instrument at a specified price with delivery set at a specified time in the future. These types of...
founded by Olof Stenhammar in the 1980s to introduce trading in standardized option
Option (finance)
In finance, an option is a derivative financial instrument that specifies a contract between two parties for a future transaction on an asset at a reference price. The buyer of the option gains the right, but not the obligation, to engage in that transaction, while the seller incurs the...
contracts in Sweden. OM acquired the Stockholm Stock Exchange
Stockholm Stock Exchange
The Stockholm Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in Stockholm, Sweden. Founded in 1863 it is the primary securities exchange of the Nordic Countries....
in 1998 and unsuccessfully attempted acquisition of the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
in 2001. During the dot-com bubble
Dot-com bubble
The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more...
in the early 21st century OM, together with investment bank Morgan Stanley Dean Witter
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City serving a diversified group of corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. Morgan Stanley also operates in 36 countries around the world, with over 600 offices and a workforce of over 60,000....
, launched a virtual European stock exchange called Jiway. The project was not successful and was cancelled on the 14th October 2002.
Acquisition of other exchanges
On 3 September 2003 the Helsinki Stock ExchangeHelsinki Stock Exchange
The Helsinki Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in Helsinki, Finland. Since 3 September 2003 it has been part of OMX, referred to as OMX Helsinki . Since NASDAQ's acquisition of OMX in February 2008, the official name of the Helsinki exchange has been NASDAQ OMX Helsinki.- History :The...
(HEX) merged with OM, and the joint company became OM HEX. On August 31, 2004, the brand name of the company was changed to OMX. OMX then acquired the Copenhagen Stock Exchange
Copenhagen Stock Exchange
The Copenhagen Stock Exchange or CSE is an international marketplace for Danish securities, including shares, bonds, treasury bills and notes, and financial futures and options...
in January 2005 for €164 million. On September 19, 2006 the Iceland Stock Exchange
Iceland Stock Exchange
NASDAQ OMX Iceland or ICEX was established in 1985 as a joint venture of several banks and brokerage firms on the initiative of the central bank. Trading began in 1986 in Icelandic government bonds, and trading in equities began in 1990. Equities trading increased rapidly thereafter...
owner Eignarhaldsfelagid Verdbrefathing (EV) announced it would be acquired by OMX in a deal valuing the company at 250 million SEK
Swedish krona
The krona has been the currency of Sweden since 1873. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it, but especially in the past, it sometimes preceded the value...
. The transaction was completed by the end of the year. The company also took a 10% stake in Oslo Børs Holding ASA, the owner of the Oslo Stock Exchange
Oslo Stock Exchange
The Oslo Stock Exchange serves as the main market for trading in the shares of Norwegian companies. It opens at 9:00am and closes 5:30pm local time...
in October 2006. OMX acquired the Armenian Stock Exchange and Central Depository in November 2007.
Expansion of offerings
In December 2005 OMX started First NorthFirst North
First North is a division of OMX and an alternative stock exchange for smaller companies in the Nordic Countries. The market place Nya Marknaden in Stockholm changed name to First North in June 2006 and the First North exchange expanded to the stock exchange on Iceland in January 2007 and Helsinki...
, an alternative exchange for smaller companies, in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. The First North exchange expanded to Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
in June 2006, Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
in January 2007 and Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
in April 2007. The Markets Technology division of Computershare
Computershare
Founded in Melbourne, Australia in 1978, Computershare Limited has grown to become the world's largest share registry business. It is a leading financial market services and technology provider, employing over 10,000 people, providing services in 20 countries and to more than 30,000 clients and...
was acquired in 2006. The acquisition greatly expanded its product offerings and made its client list the largest of all trading system technology providers.
The group launched a virtual Nordic Stock Exchange on October 2, 2006, after merging the individual lists of shares traded at its three wholly owned Nordic
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
exchanges into a combined Nordic List. Companies listed on the Iceland Stock Exchange have also since been merged into the list. OMX also launched a pan-regional benchmark index, the OMX Nordic 40
OMX Nordic 40
The OMX Nordic 40 is a stock market index for the pan-regional Nordic Stock Exchange. It is a market value-weighted index, created on October 2, 2006, that consists of the 40 most-traded stock classes of shares from the four stock markets operated by the OMX Group in the Nordic countries -...
, on the same date, however the individual exchanges have also retained their own national benchmark indices.
NASDAQ takeover
On May 25, 2007, NASDAQNASDAQ
The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...
agreed to buy OMX for US$3.7 billion. In August 2007, however, Borse Dubai
Borse Dubai
Borse Dubai is a stock exchange in the United Arab Emirates.It is the holding company for Dubai Financial Market and NASDAQ Dubai...
offered US$4 billion, prompting speculation of a bidding war. On September 20, 2007, Borse Dubai agreed to stop competing to buy OMX in return for a 20% stake and 5 percent of votes in NASDAQ as well as NASDAQ's then 28% stake in the London Stock Exchange. In a complex transaction, Borse Dubai acquired 97.2% of OMX's outstanding shares before selling them on to NASDAQ. The newly merged company was renamed the NASDAQ OMX Group
NASDAQ OMX Group
NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. is a United States public company that owns and operates the NASDAQ stock market and eight European stock exchanges in Armenia plus the Nordic and Baltic regions under the OMX banner...
upon completion of the deal on February 27, 2008.
OMX exchanges
- Copenhagen Stock ExchangeCopenhagen Stock ExchangeThe Copenhagen Stock Exchange or CSE is an international marketplace for Danish securities, including shares, bonds, treasury bills and notes, and financial futures and options...
- Stockholm Stock ExchangeStockholm Stock ExchangeThe Stockholm Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in Stockholm, Sweden. Founded in 1863 it is the primary securities exchange of the Nordic Countries....
- Helsinki Stock ExchangeHelsinki Stock ExchangeThe Helsinki Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in Helsinki, Finland. Since 3 September 2003 it has been part of OMX, referred to as OMX Helsinki . Since NASDAQ's acquisition of OMX in February 2008, the official name of the Helsinki exchange has been NASDAQ OMX Helsinki.- History :The...
- Tallinn Stock ExchangeTallinn Stock ExchangeThe Tallinn Stock Exchange is a stock exchange operating in Tallinn, Estonia. It is one of the OMX Exchanges, which also operates Helsinki Stock Exchange and Stockholm Stock Exchange and is the only regulated exchange in Estonia. It has a pre-market session from 09:00 to 10:00, a normal trading...
- Riga Stock ExchangeRiga Stock ExchangeThe Riga Stock Exchange now "NASDAQ OMX Riga" is the sole stock exchange operating in Riga, Latvia. It is owned by NASDAQ OMX, which also operates exchanges in the USA, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Armenia, Lithuania, and Estonia...
- Vilnius Stock ExchangeVilnius Stock ExchangeThe NASDAQ OMX Vilnius is a stock exchange established in 1993 operating in Vilnius, Lithuania. It is owned by OMX, which also operates Helsinki Stock Exchange and Stockholm Stock Exchange....
- Iceland Stock ExchangeIceland Stock ExchangeNASDAQ OMX Iceland or ICEX was established in 1985 as a joint venture of several banks and brokerage firms on the initiative of the central bank. Trading began in 1986 in Icelandic government bonds, and trading in equities began in 1990. Equities trading increased rapidly thereafter...
- Armenian Stock ExchangeArmenian Stock ExchangeNASDAQ OMX Armenia , formerly "Armenian Stock Exchange" or "Armex", is the only stock exchange currently operating in Armenia. It is located in Yerevan, the capital city. The stock exchange began operations in 2001 as a self-regulatory organization founded by the exchange members...
(completed November 2007) - Oslo Stock ExchangeOslo Stock ExchangeThe Oslo Stock Exchange serves as the main market for trading in the shares of Norwegian companies. It opens at 9:00am and closes 5:30pm local time...
(10% stake)
Divisions
The company's stock market activities are categorized into three divisions:- Nordic Market (Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Iceland)
- Baltic Market (Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius)
- First NorthFirst NorthFirst North is a division of OMX and an alternative stock exchange for smaller companies in the Nordic Countries. The market place Nya Marknaden in Stockholm changed name to First North in June 2006 and the First North exchange expanded to the stock exchange on Iceland in January 2007 and Helsinki...
(alternative exchange)
Technology
In North America OMX supports its most high profile customers such as the Financial Industry Regulatory AuthorityFinancial Industry Regulatory Authority
In the United States, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc., or FINRA, is a private corporation that acts as a self-regulatory organization . FINRA is the successor to the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. ...
(FINRA), ICAP
ICAP (company)
ICAP plc is a UK based voice and electronic dealer broker and provider of post trade risk services, the largest in the world carrying out transactions for financial institutions rather than private individuals...
, ISE
International Securities Exchange
International Securities Exchange Holdings, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of German derivatives exchange Eurex. It is a member of the Options Clearing Corporation and the Options Industry Council . Historically, responsibility for organizing the Options Industry Conference is rotated amongst...
, and IDCG which are powered by OMX trading systems such as X-stream, CLICK
Click
-Computing:* Point-and-click, a gesture made with a computer input device such as a mouse* Apache Click, a web application framework* Klik, a computer programming method* Clik!, a disk drive-Film and television:...
, CONDICO and SAXESS.
OMX is the world's leading providing of Central Securities Depository
Central Securities Depository
A Central Securities Depository is an organization holding securities either in certificated or uncertificated form, to enable book entry transfer of securities. In some cases these organizations also carry out centralized comparison, and transaction processing such as clearing and settlement of...
(CSD) technology. Its Equator CSD product is used by clients in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean.
Central Counterparty Clearing
Central Counterparty Clearing
Central Counterparty Clearing is a process by which financial transactions in equities are cleared by a single counterparty. Please see Clearing for general information about clearing...
(CCC) technology is a significant potential growth area for OMX. OMX's SECUR clearing and Genium trading platform facilitate trade novation, derivatives clearing, risk management and improved liquidity. SECUR clearing and Genium trading technology are in production around the world.
OMX's technology customers include:
- Abu Dhabi Securities ExchangeAbu Dhabi Securities ExchangeAbu Dhabi Securities Exchange [ADSM] is a stock exchange in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates . It was established on 15 November 2000 to trade shares of UAE companies. There are trading locations in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Fujeirah, Sharjah, and Ras Al Khaimah...
- Agora-X
- Athens Exchange
- Australian Securities ExchangeAustralian Securities ExchangeThe Australian Securities Exchange was created by the merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and the Sydney Futures Exchange in July 2006. It is the primary stock exchange group in Australia....
- Bahamas International Securities Exchange
- Bahrain Stock ExchangeBahrain Stock ExchangeThe Bahrain Stock Exchange was established in 1987 by Amiri Decree No. and officially commenced operations on June 17, 1989, with 29 listed companies. Currently, there are 50 companies listed on the exchange...
- Barbados Stock ExchangeBarbados Stock ExchangeThe Barbados Stock Exchange or BSE is Barbados' main stock exchange. Its headquarters are in the capital-city Bridgetown.The Barbados Stock Exchange is among the four major regional Caribbean stock exchanges. The other three being the exchanges of Jamaica, the Eastern Caribbean, and Trinidad and...
- Bolsa de Valores de ColombiaBolsa de Valores de ColombiaThe Bolsa de Valores de Colombia, also known as BVC, is the principal stock exchange of Colombia. It was created on July 3, 2001 by the union of three extant stock exchanges in Colombia: Bogotá Stock Exchange , Medellín Stock Exchange and Cali's Western Stock Exchange .The company maintains...
- Boston Stock ExchangeBoston Stock ExchangeThe Boston Stock Exchange is a regional stock exchange located in Boston, Massachusetts. The third-oldest stock exchange in the United States, it was founded in 1834...
- Canadian Trading and Quotation SystemCNQCNSX is an alternative stock exchange in Canada. It is the first full stock market to be approved by the Ontario Securities Commission in the past 70 years. The CNSX offers simplified reporting requirements and reduced barriers to listing. It is an alternative for micro cap and emerging companies...
- Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchange
- Doha Securities MarketDoha Securities MarketThe Qatar Exchange is the principal stock market of Qatar. The market was founded in 1997 and is located in the capital city of Doha. Its name is abbreviated to DSM. NYSE Euronext owns 25% of DSM...
- Dubai Financial MarketDubai Financial MarketThe Dubai Financial Market is a stock exchange located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was founded on March 26, 2000.There are about 57 companies listed on DFM, most of them are UAE-based companies and a few dual listings for companies based in other MENA region countries. Many companies allow...
- Dubai International Financial ExchangeDubai International Financial ExchangeNASDAQ Dubai , is a stock exchange opened on September 26, 2005, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.-Listed products and market status:...
- European Derivatives Exchange
- Financial Industry Regulatory AuthorityFinancial Industry Regulatory AuthorityIn the United States, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc., or FINRA, is a private corporation that acts as a self-regulatory organization . FINRA is the successor to the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. ...
- Hong Kong Exchanges and ClearingHong Kong Exchanges and ClearingHong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited , also 香港交易所 or 港交所; abbreviated as HKEx; ) is the holding company for The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited , Hong Kong Futures Exchange Limited and Hong Kong Securities Clearing Company Limited...
- ICAPICAP (company)ICAP plc is a UK based voice and electronic dealer broker and provider of post trade risk services, the largest in the world carrying out transactions for financial institutions rather than private individuals...
- Icelandic Securities Depository
- International Securities ExchangeInternational Securities ExchangeInternational Securities Exchange Holdings, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of German derivatives exchange Eurex. It is a member of the Options Clearing Corporation and the Options Industry Council . Historically, responsibility for organizing the Options Industry Conference is rotated amongst...
- Iraq Stock ExchangeIraq Stock ExchangeThe Iraq Stock Exchange , formally the Baghdad Stock Exchange, is a stock exchange in Baghdad, Iraq.The Iraq Stock Exchange was incorporated and began operations in June 2004. It operates under the oversight of the Iraq Securities Commission, an independent commission modeled after the U.S....
- Istanbul Stock ExchangeIstanbul Stock ExchangeThe Istanbul Stock Exchange is the only corporation in Turkey for securities exchange established to provide trading in equities, bonds and bills, revenue-sharing certificates, private sector bonds, foreign securities and real estate certificates as well as international securities. The ISE was...
- Indonesia Stock Exchange
- Jamaica Stock ExchangeJamaica Stock ExchangeThe Jamaica Stock Exchange is the principal stock exchange of Jamaica. It is known as the JSE. It was founded in 1968 in Kingston, Jamaica and its current executive chairman is Mr Roy Johnson....
- Malta Stock ExchangeMalta Stock ExchangeThe Malta Stock Exchange is a small but active stock exchange based in Malta's capital, Valletta. It oversees the trading of a handful of important stocks and is the marketplace for Malta's bond market....
- Moscow Interbank Currency ExchangeMoscow Interbank Currency ExchangeThe Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange or MICEX is one of the largest universal stock exchanges in the Russian Federation and East Europe. MICEX opened in 1992 and is the leading Russian stock exchange...
- National Stock Exchange of AustraliaNational Stock Exchange of AustraliaNational Stock Exchange of Australia is a stock exchange based in Newcastle, Australia. It is owned and operated by NSX Limited, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange...
- Nigerian Stock Exchange
- NSX Corporate Stock Exchange
- Osaka Securities ExchangeOsaka Securities Exchangeis the second largest securities exchange in Japan, in terms of amount of business handled. As of 31 December 2007, the Osaka Securities Exchange had 477 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of $212 billion. The Nikkei 225 Futures, introduced at the Osaka Securities Exchange in...
- Palestine Securities ExchangePalestine Securities ExchangeThe Palestine Exchange in Nablus, or PEX, was incorporated as a private shareholding company in early 1995, with the Palestine Development & Investment Company as its major investor. The PEX was fully automated upon establishment - a first amongst the Arab Stock Exchanges...
- Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corporation
- PLUS Markets GroupPLUS Markets GroupPLUS Markets Group and PLUS Derivatives . PLUS is a London based stock and derivatives exchange providing cash trading, listing, derivatives and technology services. PLUS delivers product innovation and competitive pricing to market participants by operating dynamic, low cost base exchanges...
- Port Moresby Stock ExchangePort Moresby Stock ExchangePort Moresby Stock Exchange is the principal stock exchange of Papua New Guinea. It is located in Port Moresby and it was founded in 1999. Its name is abbreviated to "POMSoX"...
- Saudi Arabia Stock Exchange (Tadawul)
- Singapore Commodity Exchange
- Singapore ExchangeSingapore ExchangeSingapore Exchange Limited is an investment holding company located in Singapore and providing different services related to securities and derivatives trading and others. SGX is a member of the World Federation of Exchanges and the Asian and Oceanian Stock Exchanges FederationSingapore Exchange...
- Shanghai Stock ExchangeShanghai Stock ExchangeThe Shanghai Stock Exchange , abbreviated as 上证所/上證所 or 上交所, is a stock exchange that is based in the city of Shanghai, China. It is one of the two stock exchanges operating independently in the People's Republic of China, the other is the Shenzhen Stock Exchange...
- SWX Swiss ExchangeSWX Swiss ExchangeSIX Swiss Exchange , based in Zurich, is Switzerland's principal stock exchange . SIX Swiss Exchange also trades other securities such as Swiss government bonds and derivatives such as stock options.The main stock market index for the SIX Swiss Exchange is the SMI, the Swiss Market Index...
- Thailand Futures Exchange
- TLXTLXNuclear receptor TLX also known as NR2E1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the NR2E1 gene...
- Tokyo Commodity ExchangeTokyo Commodity ExchangeThe Tokyo Commodity Exchange is a non-profit organization, and regulates trading of futures contracts and option products of all commodities in Japan...
- Trinidad and Tobago Stock ExchangeTrinidad and Tobago Stock ExchangeThe Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange is the main stock exchange in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Currently the leading stock exchange in the Caribbean region , the Trinidad and Tobago stock exchange caters mostly to the strong financial position of many indigenous companies incorporated...
- Turkish Derivatives Exchange
- Zagreb Stock ExchangeZagreb Stock ExchangeThe Zagreb Stock Exchange or ZSE is a stock exchange located in Zagreb, Croatia. It is Croatia's only stock exchange. The exchange trades shares of Croatian companies, as well as bonds and commercial bills....
See also
- List of stock exchanges
- List of European stock exchanges
- List of Finnish companies
- List of Swedish companies
External links
- OMX - Official site