HORSENS, Denmark, June 6, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- The stock exchange Dansk AMP is of the opinion that the OMX Group abuses its dominant position by excluding companies listed at Dansk AMP from parallel admission to trading at AktieTorget in Sweden
The Nordic OMX Group, which owns e.g. the Copenhagen Stock Exchange, was reported to the Swedish competition authorities, Konkurrensverket, on Tuesday. The report was made by stock exchange Dansk AMP, which regards OMX as abusing its dominant position in the Nordic stock market.
The background is that OMX is trying to prevent a new Nordic stock exchange co-operation between AktieTorget and Dansk AMP which would provide access to easy, quick and cheap parallel admission of Danish companies.
OMX is the IT supplier of AktieTorget which uses the joint Nordic trading system Saxess. Two Danish companies have already concluded an agreement on admission to trading at AktieTorget, and more are expected to follow. OMX has refused to set up the companies in the trading system. In its complaint, Dansk AMP requests the competition authorities to order OMX to allow admission of foreign companies to AktieTorget.
Exploitation of monopoly position
"Dansk AMP has asked the Swedish competition authorities for help because we are of the opinion that OMX abuses its monopoly as IT supplier of the joint Nordic trading system Saxess to prevent our new stock-market co-operation with AktieTorget. It may, of course, be convenient for OMX that its IT division is incapable of setting up companies in the Saxess trading system that are also admitted to trading at the only competing Danish stock market, but now we are requesting the authorities to look into the matter to clarify whether this is legal," says Soeren Thestrup, CEO, Dansk AMP.
"We trust that AktieTorget knows its own agreement with OMX. As AktieTorget has concluded a co-operation agreement with Dansk AMP and is preparing for admission of two of our companies, we do not expect that the competition authorities will be able to find any objective reasons entitling OMX to refuse the admission of Danish companies.
It is a fact that Dansk AMP and AktieTorget are prevented from competing against OMX's marketplace for small companies, First North. Moreover, the opportunities of companies listed at Dansk AMP which have entered into an agreement with AktieTorget on parallel admission are undermined in respect of raising capital when, contrary to what these companies were promised, they are given no exposure to the Swedish stock market", says Soeren Thestrup, Dansk AMP.
The two companies that have applied for admission to AktieTorget are the label manufacturing company Klimax and the airlaid company Danish Airlaid Techonology. Both Dansk AMP and the two companies have decided to maintain that AktieTorget is bound by the contracts concluded.
Dansk AMP www.danskamp.dk
On Dansk AMP Dansk AMP is a regulated European market focusing on small and medium-sized Danish business enterprises and investment companies. In 1998 Dansk Autoriseret Markedsplads A/S was the first company in Denmark to be approved by the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority to operate an authorised marketplace. This provided the Danish capital market with a new securities market adapted to the requirements of small and medium-sized enterprises and private investors. It is possible to invest both pension savings and free funds. Dansk AMP is a sister company of Dansk OTC Fondsmaeglerselskab, which has been trading in both listed and unlisted shares since 1987. Dansk AMP is a sister company of Dansk O.T.C. Fondsmaeglerselskab A/S, which has been trading in both listed and unlisted shares since 1987. At the moment 17 enterprises are admitted to trading at Dansk AMP.