Merrill Lynch's entry to the Danish and the Norwegian equity markets is part of an effort to expand and enhance the company's equity execution service for institutional clients. Merrill Lynch will be trading on its own account and on behalf of its customers via automatic order routing as well as program trading. Merrill Lynch will begin trading in March 2003.
Commenting on the membership, Grant Turner, Co-head of Pan-European Cash Equity Trading, says: - The ability to remotely access the market will increase Merrill Lynch´s exposure to the Scandinavian marketplace. Membership of Oslo Børs and the Copenhagen Stock Exchange enables us to provide issuers and investors in Norway and Denmark, as well as throughout Europe, with greater access to these important markets.
Merrill Lynch is one of the world´s leading financial management and advisory companies with offices in 36 countries and total client assets of approximately $1.3 trillion. As an investment bank, Merrill Lynch is a leading global underwriter of debt and equity securities and strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals world wide.
Merrill Lynch is now a member of the following European equity exchanges: London Stock Exchange, Deutsche Börse, Euronext Amsterdam, Euronext Brussels, Euronext Paris, Bolsa de Madrid, Borsa Italiana, Irish Stock Exchange, SWX Swiss Exchange, virt-x, Stockholmsbörsen, Copenhagen Stock Exchange and Oslo Børs.
President and CEO Sven Arild Andersen says:- When one of the largest international investment banks now chooses a higher exposure in the Nordic equity market, it is a great recognition of benefits from the NOREX alliance and of Norway and Scandinavia as attractive markets. I am pleased to welcoming Merrill Lynch as a new member of Oslo Børs.
