Nasdaq Nordic is the common name for the subsidiaries of Nasdaq, Inc. 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 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 Nasdaq, Inc. (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 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 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 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 (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 in January 2005 for €164 million. On 19 September 2006, Iceland Stock 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 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 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 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 agreed to buy OMX for US$3.7 billion. In August, however, Borse Dubai offered US$4 billion, prompting speculation of a bidding war. 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: * Copenhagen Stock Exchange (Nasdaq Copenhagen) * Stockholm Stock Exchange (Nasdaq Stockholm) * Helsinki Stock Exchange (Nasdaq Helsinki) * Iceland Stock Exchange (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.