Handelsbanken extends its membership of the Nordic Exchange

Handelsbanken will become a member of the OMX Nordic Exchange in Iceland as of Wednesday, May 2. They will thereby gain trading access to the Icelandic equity market. Handelsbanken is already a member of the Nordic Exchange in Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Helsinki. Handelsbanken is the first international player to become a member of the Icelandic market since the Icelandic market merged with OMX Nordic Exchange at the end of last year. Handelsbanken will thus become a fully Nordic member. ”We warmly welcome Handelsbanken to the OMX Nordic Exchange in Iceland. The Bank's extended membership is a clear indication that the OMX integration has brought more visibility to the Icelandic market. Handelsbanken is the first cross-member to add Iceland to its Nordic membership and we firmly believe others will follow in the coming months. The Bank will be able to offer its clients a range of new opportunities through its current access to the Nordic Exchange”, says Thordur Fridjonsson, President OMX Nordic Exchange in Iceland. Handelsbanken is an international bank established in 1871. In terms of lending to the public, it is the largest bank in Sweden and the third largest bank in the Nordic area. It has over 600 branches, operations in 20 countries, total assets of SEK 1,790 billion and an operating profit for 2006 of SEK 17.2 billion. The Bank has around 10,000 employees and its ratings are as follows: Moody's Aa1, S&P AA-, Fitch AA-. Its overall financial goal is to have a higher return on shareholder's equity than a weighted average of comparable listed Nordic banks. In 2006, Handelsbanken was the second largest player on the OMX Nordic Exchange in Stockholm, and also second largest Nordic player on the Nordic Exchange. The Nordic Exchange has 160 members in 13 different countries. The company's code in the trading system is SHB. The trading access is active as of today. For more information, please contact: Helga Björk Eiriksdottir, OMX Nordic Exchange in Iceland +354 525 2844 / 894 8888 About OMX | OMX is a leading expert in the exchange industry. Through the Nordic Exchange, OMX offers access to approximately 80 percent of the Nordic and Baltic securities market. The Nordic Exchange is a term used for marketing purposes and is not a legal entity. It describes the common offering from the Helsinki Stock Exchange, Copenhagen Stock Exchange, Stockholm Stock Exchange, Iceland Stock Exchange, Tallinn Stock Exchange, Riga Stock Exchange and Vilnius Stock Exchange. OMX integrated technology solutions cross the transaction chain enabling efficient securities transactions for over 60 exchange organizations in more than 50 countries. OMX is a Nordic Large Cap company in the Financial sector on the OMX Nordic Exchange. For more information, please visit www.omxgroup.com.

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