Stockholmsborsen: Modest Interest in Evening Trading


STOCKHOLM, Sweden, June 20, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Stockholmsborsen will not introduce evening business hours during 2002. Stockholmsborsen has concluded that the demand is insufficient to enable smoothly functioning evening trading. Healthy trading liquidity is a prerequisite for operating a smoothly functioning and efficient marketplace. The assessment made by Stockholmsborsen is that evening business hours would not give rise to the requisite liquidity in the current market climate.

"Our objective is to always offer a smoothly functioning and sufficiently liquid marketplace. After assessing the opinions of Exchange Members, we have arrived at the conclusion that the current demand for trading during evening hours would not be sufficient to achieve satisfactory trading liquidity during those hours. In view of this, introducing evening business hours could damage the credibility of the entire market," said Claes Urban Dackberg, Product Area Manager Equity Products at Stockholmsborsen. "This does not mean that we are completely abandoning our belief in extended business hours. We still believe that evening trading could prove attractive when demand reaches a level that is sufficient for offering satisfactory liquidity also during evening hours," Dackberg continued.

Stockholmsborsen engages in a continual dialog with Exchange Members, regarding such matters as business hours, to ensure that the marketplace remains as efficient as possible.


Further information:
Claes Urban Dackberg, Product Area Manager Equity       +46 70 569 52 09
Products
Maria Andark, Corporate Communication                   +46 70 597 52 76

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www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/06/20/20020620BIT00530/wkr0001.doc
www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/06/20/20020620BIT00530/wkr0002.pdf