Surveillance

The Surveillance function within the Nasdaq OMX Nordic has the primary goal of working to maintain confidence in the exchange amongst the general public. This is mainly achieved by means of a credible, professional and integrated surveillance of the trading and the listed companies and also by assuming surveillance responsibility for the listing of equities and other financial instruments.

The tasks for Surveillance mainly consist of:

a) monitoring that the participants adhere to the applicable rules and regulations
b) enforcing the rules in order to ensure a level playing field for the market participants
c) responsibility for the formal process in connection with the listing of new companies
d) taking specific action (advising the companies, scrutinizing and reviewing listing documents, assuming responsibility for the exchanges' listing committees, developing listing requirements for the various instruments, etc.) during the listing of new instruments
e) providing training as regards the exchanges' rules
f) providing qualified service to issuers, members and advisors through a high degree of expertise and constant accessibility
g) co-operating with the Legal department to develop the rules and regulations regarding issuers
h) co-operating with the Trading Surveillance departments within the Norex exchanges and with other Nasdaq OMX units, to develop the rules for trading and for the members

The Surveillance function consists of three Departments, one at the Stockholm Stock Exchange, the Copenhagen Stock Exchange and the Helsinki Stock Exchange respectively. These departments are in turn organized into two groups: one for the listing of instruments and surveillance of the companies (Issuer Surveillance) and one for surveillance of the trading (Trading Surveillance). In addition to this, there are special personnel who carry out surveillance activities at each of the three Baltic Exchanges.

The surveillance tasks are related partly to the trading as such, but they also concern the activities of members, the listed companies and other market participants activities in relation to applicable rules. The tasks also involve the listing of financial instruments such as equities, warrants, bonds and other interest-bearing instruments. In Copenhagen, there are also special activities with respect to mutual funds and prospectuses.

Surveillance organization

Surveillance Committee

The Surveillance Committee monitors how the exchanges handle issues relating to listings and market surveillance.

Currently there are two functioning Surveillance Committees at the Nasdaq OMX Nordic, one in Sweden and one in Finland. The committees have been established by the Boards of Directors, primarily in order to strengthen the integrity of and confidence in Exchanges in Sweden and Finland.

The committees´ immediate responsibility is to monitor and handle issues relating to the exchanges´ listing and market surveillance activities. Consequently, it is ensured that such issues are handled separately from the exchanges´ business activities. The committees report to the Board of Directors of each respective exchange. In addition to this, reports regarding Surveillance activities at the Nasdaq OMX Nordic are intended to be published bi-annually. 

In their work the committees aim to:
a) harmonize the listing and surveillance procedures of Nasdaq OMX Nordic
b) enhance the integrity of and confidence in Nasdaq OMX Nordic and the markets where the Exchange operates
c) ensure that the market surveillance is carried out in line with the overall strategy of Nasdaq OMX Nordic

The committees consist of five members, appointed by the Board of Directors of the exchanges. Three of these members shall be independent of OMX AB or qualified owners of OMX AB (owners who directly or indirectly hold 10 percent or more of the voting rights of the company). The chairman of the committees shall be appointed from the ranks of the independent members. The remaining committee members are the presidents of each respective exchange. The members of the committees shall have a high degree of integrity and possess good knowledge about the securities markets where Nasdaq OMX Nordic operates.