ICEX Trading Hours Changed on 26 March 2007


ICEX Trading Hours Changed on 26 March 2007 - Closing time will be co-ordinated with that of the OMX exchanges in Stockholm and Helsinki

OMX Nordic Exchange in Iceland (ICEX) has decided that, from 26 March onwards, its markets will close at the same time as the equity markets in Stockholm and Helsinki, or just before 5:30 pm Central European Time (CET). The change is a step towards harmonising the trading environment of exchanges within the OMX Nordic Exchange for investors' convenience. Constant CET closing time year-round will mean that at Icelandic local time (GMT) closing hours will differ between summer and winter. In terms of local time, this will mean that ICEX markets will close a half-hour earlier in the summer than is currently the case (at 3:30 pm) and a half-hour later in the winter (at 4:30 pm). Trading will commence, however, at the same time as it currently does. As previously, continuous trading (COTR) will therefore begin at 10 am local time. Following the change, the trading hours on ICEX will be as follows:

	Local Time	Central European Time
	Summer	Winter	Summer	Winter
Pre-trading	08:00	08:00	10:00	09:00
Opening call auction	09:45	09:45	11:45	10:45
Continuous trading	10:00	10:00	12:00	11:00
Closing call auction	15:20	16:20	17:20	17:20
Terminating	15:23	16:23	17:23	17:23
Post-trading	15:40	16:40	17:40	17:40
Closed	16:00	17:00	18:00	18:00

"It´s a pleasure for us to introduce this change now that we're in the final phase of the OMX integration process and the Icelandic companies will soon be presented together with other companies listed on the Nordic Exchange. ICEX has emphasised harmonisation with the other exchanges within OMX for some time now, thus, harmonising closing hours is yet another step which facilitates access to the Icelandic market", comments Thordur Fridjonsson, President of the OMX Nordic Exchange in Iceland, on the change. 
The above alteration to closing hours received overwhelming support in a survey which ICEX carried out among ICEX members. Exchange members representing about 90% of trading supported such a change. Some of them wished to go a step further and change the opening hours of trading, to make this also the same time in CET terms. The support for changing the opening time for trading was not, however, sufficient to justify such a change at this point.

ICEX regards this change to be a step forward for the market. The integration with OMX opens up opportunities for issuers and exchange members. Visibility will increase substantially and increased interest can be expected from foreign investors. The increased harmonisation of the trading environment on OMX Nordic Exchange in Iceland with that of other OMX exchanges, so that market participants will encounter the same environment regardless of where they are trading, reinforces the fact that the Icelandic market is in fact part of a larger market  and facilitates access to the market by investors abroad.