Iceland Stock Exchange

Nasdaq Iceland
Iceland Stock Exchange
Kauphöll Íslands
Type Stock exchange
Location Reykjavík, Iceland
Founded 1985
Owner Nasdaq, Inc.
Key people Páll Harðarson (President)
Currency ISK
No. of listings 8
Indices OMXI6
OMX Iceland All-Share
Website nasdaqomxnordic.com

The Iceland Stock Exchange (Icelandic: Kauphöll Íslands), operating under the name Nasdaq Iceland[1][2] and also known as 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. A wide variety of firms are currently listed on the exchange, including firms in retail, fishing, transportation, banks, insurance and numerous other areas. Because of the small size of the Icelandic economy and the low cost of public listing, many of the companies traded on the ICEX are relatively small and are relatively illiquid.

All domestic trading of Icelandic bonds, equities and mutual funds takes place on the ICEX. Bonds and equities are regularly traded, though the liquidity is small in comparison with other exchanges. No mutual funds are currently listed on the market. Since its founding, the ICEX has used various electronic systems. Since 2000, it has used the SAXESS system of the NOREX alliance, which allows for the cross-listing of stocks on Nordic stock exchanges. No foreign company lists directly on the ICEX, as the small size and illiquidity of the market makes such a move redundant. Conversely, few Icelandic firms have listed abroad, including DeCODE. Faroese bonds were listed on behalf of Virðisbrævamarknaður Føroya in November 2003, and since December 2007 four Faroese equities have been listed on the OMX Nordic Exchange in Iceland.

Since 1 January 1999, the ICEX has operated as a private company, owned by the listed companies (29%), member firms (29%), the Central Bank of Iceland (16%), pension funds (13%) and the Association of Small Investors (13%).

Páll Harðarson is the current president of the stock exchange. ICEX agreed to be taken over by larger rival OMX Nordic Exchange on 19 September 2006.[3]

On 6 October 2008, the Financial Supervisory Authority decided to temporarily suspend trading on regulated market financial instruments issued by Glitnir, Kaupthing Bank, Landsbanki, Straumur Investment Bank, Spron and Exista.[4] When the exchange reopened on 14 October, the stock index fell by 76%.[5]

After having reached its peak of 3495.28 on the 20th of July 2007, the OMX Iceland All-Shares Index collapsed to its bottom at 167.77 on April 8, 2009, a fall of 95.2% from top to bottom. Nine years later, the index was yet to reach 670.[6]

List of companies on the ICEX

The following is a complete list of companies which are listed on the Iceland Stock Exchange (as of July 18, 2013), and currency in which they trade.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bakie, John (30 October 2014). "Nasdaq drops OMX name from branding". The Trade. London. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  2. ↑ "Nordic Large Cap". Nasdaq. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  3. ↑ Nasdaq Omx
  4. ↑ The Financial Supervisory Authority - Iceland, News: Temporary suspension from trading (06.10.2008) Archived 2008-12-11 at the Wayback Machine. (in English)
  5. ↑ The Guardian, Iceland stock index plunges 76 pct as trade resumes (14.10.2008) (in English)
  6. ↑ Fundamental Finance Playbook, The Icelandic Stock Exchange
  7. ↑ Landsbankinn, Stock listings Retrieved 18.7.2013
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.