Nasdaq Nordic is the common name for the subsidiaries of

Nasdaq, Inc. Nasdaq, Inc. is an American multinational financial services corporation that owns and operates three stock exchanges in the United States: the namesake Nasdaq stock exchange (on which it is also listed), the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, and ...

that provide

financial services Financial services are service (economics), economic services tied to finance provided by financial institutions. Financial services encompass a broad range of tertiary sector of the economy, service sector activities, especially as concerns finan ...

and operate marketplaces for

securities A security is a tradable financial asset. The term commonly refers to any form of financial instrument, but its legal definition varies by jurisdiction. In some countries and languages people commonly use the term "security" to refer to any for ...

in the Nordic and

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

regions of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. Historically, the operations were known by the company name ''OMX AB'' (''Aktiebolaget Optionsmäklarna''/Helsinki Stock E''x''change), created in 2003 with the

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

between ''OM AB'' and ''HEX plc''. In 2015, the legal entity OMX AB was renamed Nasdaq AB, but it also operates under the name ''Nasdaq OMX AB''. The operations have been part of

(formerly known as ''Nasdaq OMX Group'') since February 2008. On 23 August 2023, the company formed EuroCTP as a joint venture with 13 other bourses, in an effort to provide a consolidated tape for the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, as part of the

Capital Markets Union The Capital Markets Union (CMU) is an economic policy initiative launched by the former president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker in the initial exposition of his policy agenda on 15 July 2014. The main target was to create a Eur ...

proposed by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

History

Origins

OM AB (''Optionsmäklarna'') was a

futures exchange A futures exchange or futures market is a central financial exchange where people can trade standardized futures contracts defined by the exchange. Futures contracts are derivatives contracts to buy or sell specific quantities of a commodity or ...

founded by Olof Stenhammar in the 1980s to introduce trading in standardized option contracts in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. OM acquired the

Stockholm Stock Exchange Nasdaq Stockholm, formerly known as the Stockholm Stock Exchange (), is a stock exchange located in Frihamnen, Stockholm, Sweden. Founded in 1863, it has become the primary securities exchange of the Nordic countries. As of March 2021, a total ...

in 1998 and unsuccessfully attempted acquisition of the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

in 2001. During the

dot-com bubble The dot-com bubble (or dot-com boom) was a stock market bubble that ballooned during the late-1990s and peaked on Friday, March 10, 2000. This period of market growth coincided with the widespread adoption of the World Wide Web and the Interne ...

in the early 2000s, OM, together with investment bank Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, launched a virtual European stock exchange called Jiway. The project was not successful and was cancelled on 14 October 2002.

Acquisition of other exchanges

On 3 September 2003, the

Helsinki Stock Exchange Nasdaq Helsinki, formerly known as the Helsinki Stock Exchange (, ), is a stock exchange located in Helsinki, Finland. Since 3 September 2003, it has been part of Nasdaq Nordic (previously called ''OMX''). After the OMX merger, it was referred t ...

(HEX) merged with OM and the joint company became OM HEX. On 31 August 2004, the company name was changed to OMX. OMX then acquired the

Copenhagen Stock Exchange The Nasdaq Copenhagen, formerly known as the Copenhagen Stock Exchange (), is an international marketplace for Danish securities, including shares, bonds, treasury bills and notes, and financial futures and options. Nasdaq Copenhagen is on ...

in January 2005 for €164 million. On 19 September 2006,

Iceland Stock Exchange The Nasdaq Iceland, formerly known as the Iceland Stock Exchange (ICEX) ( ), is a stock exchange for Icelandic bonds and equities. Companies in sectors such as retail, fishing, transportation, banking and real estate are listed on the exchange. ...

owner Eignarhaldsfelagid Verdbrefathing (EV) announced it would be acquired by OMX in a deal valuing the company at 250 million SEK. The transaction was completed by the end of the year. The company took a 10% stake in Oslo Børs Holding ASA, the owner of the

Oslo Stock Exchange Oslo Stock Exchange () (OSE: OSLO) is a stock exchange within the Nordic countries and offers Norway's only regulated markets for securities trading today. The stock exchange offers a full product range including equities, derivatives and fixed ...

in October 2006. As of September 2016, Nasdaq is not a major shareholder in the Oslo Stock Exchange holding company, which following a merger is currently called ''Oslo Børs VPS Holding ASA''. Nasdaq has, however, publicly stated its interest in eventually acquiring the Oslo Stock Exchange. In November 2007, OMX acquired the Armenian Stock Exchange and the Central Depository of Armenia.

Expansion of offerings

In December 2005, OMX started First North, an alternative exchange for smaller companies, in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. The First North exchange expanded to

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

in June 2006,

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

in January 2007 and

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

in April 2007. The Markets Technology division of

Computershare Computershare Limited is an Australian stock transfer company that provides corporate trust, stock transfer, and employee share plan services in many countries. The company currently has offices in 20 countries, including Australia, the U ...

was acquired in 2006. The acquisition greatly expanded its product offerings and made its client list the largest of all trading system technology providers. On 2 October 2006, the group launched a virtual Nordic Stock Exchange after merging the individual lists of shares traded at its three wholly owned Nordic 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 known as the

OMX Nordic 40 The OMX Nordic 40 (OMXN40) is a stock market index for the pan-regional (virtual) Nasdaq Nordic. It is a price return and capitalization-weighted index. The base date for the index is 28 December 2001, with a base value of 1000. The OMX Nordic ...

on the same date; however, the individual exchanges also retained their own national benchmark indices.

NASDAQ takeover

On 25 May 2007, American stock exchange

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

agreed to buy OMX for US$3.7 billion. In August, however, Borse Dubai offered US$4 billion, prompting speculation of a

bidding war A bid price is the highest price that a buyer (i.e., bidder) is willing to pay for some goods. It is usually referred to simply as the "bid". In bid and ask, the bid price stands in contrast to the ask price or "offer", and the difference bet ...

. On 20 September 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

. In a complex transaction, Borse Dubai acquired 97.2% of OMX's outstanding shares before selling them to NASDAQ. The newly merged company was renamed the NASDAQ OMX Group upon completion of the deal on 27 February 2008.

Exchanges

The following exchanges, with official market names in parentheses, are operated by Nasdaq Nordic: *

(Nasdaq Copenhagen) *

(Nasdaq Stockholm) *

(Nasdaq Helsinki) *

(Nasdaq Iceland) * Tallinn Stock Exchange (Nasdaq Baltic) * Riga Stock Exchange (Nasdaq Baltic) * Vilnius Stock Exchange (Nasdaq Baltic)

Divisions

The company's stock market activities are made up of three entities: *Nordic Market (Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Iceland) *Baltic Market (Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius) * First North (alternative exchange)

References

External links

www.nasdaq.com
- Official group site
nasdaqomxnordic.com
- Official Nordic site
nasdaqbaltic.com
- Official Baltic site

- Official Armenian site {{Stock exchanges top 25 Swedish companies established in 2003 Financial services companies established in 2003 2003 mergers and acquisitions 2005 mergers and acquisitions 2006 mergers and acquisitions 2007 mergers and acquisitions Economy of the Nordic countries Nasdaq, Inc.