OMX Group is launching an alternative market in Sweden, First North, offering smaller and growing companies easy access to the Nordic and global financial markets.

The listing requirements on First North are lighter than on OMX’s regulated exchanges in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius Similar to London’s AIM, each OMX listing will have a designated Certified Advisor, who is a member at OMX’s exchanges or another professional financial advisor. The advisors continuously monitor the companies for compliance with the market’s requirements. When merited, the Certified Advisors can initiate investigations and the exchange can impose sanctions on the companies.

Trading is conducted in the same trading system as OMX’s regulated markets so that an extensive network of national and international investors have easy access to the companies traded on First North. Trading is planned to start on June 12, with about 50 companies.

First North was launched in Denmark in 2005 and OMX is now expanding the concept in the Nordic region by developing the Swedish “Nya Marknaden” into First North. It will offer listing and trading in Swedish, Danish and Euro denominated shares. Companies will be able to disclose information in English, Swedish, Danish or Norwegian. In due course, the marketplace will also be launched in Finland and the aim is to eventually create a fully pan-Nordic First North.

“Through First North, we make it easier for growing companies to raise risk capital and thus support growth in the Nordic region. First North offers the companies increased visibility and access to Northern Europe’s largest pool of capital. The expansion of First North gives investors a wider variety of investment opportunities. For smaller companies, First North can be seen as the first step towards our main market on the Nordic Exchange“, says Jukka Ruuska, president of the Nordic Marketplaces, OMX.

The market’s launch is pending approval by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority.

OMX owns and operates the largest integrated securities marketplace in Northern Europe.

Through the Nordic Exchange in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius, OMX offers access to approximately 80 percent of the Nordic and Baltic securities market.