WHAT FINK MIGHT DO WITH BGI - FTSE

NORDIC ZONE MOVES TO UPGRADE PAYMENTS INFRASTRUCTURE
34
Regional Review
earnings. Nordea’s exposure to the
Baltics is relatively small (accounting
for only 3% of total lending) while
Handelsbanken has been reticent
about the opportunities provided by its
near neighbours and reports no
exposure to the economy-torn states.
Swedbank and SEB, meantime, report
exposure totalling 17% and 13% of
their total lending in the Baltics
respectively, with related net losses of
SKR2.01bn ($280m) for Swedbank and
losses of SKR193m for SEB.
The biggest Nordic banking group
had $10.4bn of loans to the region by
the end of this year, of which the
biggest portion (around a third), was in
WITH THE ADDITION
of Equiduct, KAS BANK is
currently linked to seven
Multi-Trading Facilities (MTFs). In total,
18 regulated exchanges and these seven
MTF’s are directly connected to the
Single Platform of KAS BANK in
Amsterdam.This platform processes our
client transactions in a uniform manner,
with a single collateral and margin
arrangement for all markets.
Equiduct Trading provides a
Markets in Financial Instruments
Directive (MiFID) compliant,
integrated pan-European single point
of connectivity for trading services in
most liquid equity instruments listed
on the European Economic Area
Regulated Markets through the
Regulated Market operated by Börse
Berlin in Germany. Equiduct’s market
is divided into several geographical
segments, each following the trading
schedule and characteristics of their
Latvia and the rest evenly split
between Estonia and Lithuania.
Norway’s top bank, DnB NOR, has a
Baltic exposure through its DnB NORD
unit headquartered in Copenhagen, a
joint venture with Norddeutsche
Landesbank. DnB NORD operates in
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Denmark,
Finland and Poland.
Nordea expects that rising
bankruptcies in the Nordic countries will
continue to exert pressure on the
balance sheets of local banks for some
time. Nordea’s second-quarter 2009 (Q2
2009) net profit fell 11% to €616m from
€692m over the same period last year,
beating analyst expectations. Nordea
home market. For the settlement of
transactions in securities listed on the
NYSE Euronext markets and the
London Stock Exchange (LSE)—
including SIX Swiss Exchange’s Swiss
Blue Chip Segment markets—
LCH.Clearnet will provide its central
counterparty services.
KAS BANK will provide clearing and
settlement services to its clients for
their transactions through Equiduct in
its capacity as General Clearing
Member of LCH.Clearnet SA (NYSE
Euronext) and LCH.Clearnet (LSE,
including SIX Swiss Exchange Swiss
Blue-Chip Segment).
KAS BANK already provides
clearing and settlement services to
NYSE Arca Europe and SmartPool,
moves finalised in March this year.
Most recently, the bank has extended
its reach to offer integrated clearing,
settlement and custody services for
transactions executed on NASDAQ
chief executive Christian Clausen
maintains that the region’s banks have
yet to reach the bottom of their bad-debt
problems. He notes that Nordea’s loan
losses swelled for the sixth consecutive
quarter to €425m in the quarter ending
June 30th, well up on Q2 2008, when the
bank’s loan losses touched €36m.
Handelsbanken meantime reported net
profit of SKR2.53bn, up 2% on the same
quarter in 2008, but also reported a 64%
increase in loan losses to SKR939m over
the same period, with the lion’s share
originating in export-dependent
Sweden. The losses were offset by a
stronger-than-expected 25% jump in
net interest income to SKR5.64bn.
KAS BANK UPGRADES POST
TRADE SERVICES
Nordic custody major KAS BANK has added the alternative trading
platform Equiduct to its European network of direct exchange links.
Adding Equiduct means KAS BANK is currently linked to 25
regulated and alternative markets across Europe.
OMX and relevant MTFs. With the
addition of the Nordic Exchanges, KAS
BANK strengthens its European
strategy and offers its post-trade
securities services and solutions linked
to 22 regulated exchanges and seven
MTFs in the European market place.
The bank’s Single Processing
Platform processes clients’
transactions in a uniform way, with a
single collateral and margin
arrangement for all markets, through
expert management and mitigation of
relevant risks on behalf of Trading
Member Firms, creating a unified
market for its clients.
According to Albert Röell, chairman
of the managing board of KAS BANK:
“In line with our European strategy,
KAS BANK’s commitment to the
Nordic region is very strong. Our
highly-sophisticated equities platform
will be directly connected to the
Nordic infrastructure.
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 9 • F T S E G L O B A L M A R K E T S