Stockholm Stock Exchange terminates ACH Securities' exchange membership

Stockholm Stock Exchange terminates ACH Securities' exchange membership The Stockholm Stock Exchange Board decided on September 28, 2004 to terminate the exchange membership of ACH Securities. The reason for the decision was that ACH Securities had not provided Stockholm Stock Exchange with certain information on request, and that ACH Securities had not demonstrated that it could provide such information in the future. In connection with an investigation of equities transactions conducted by ACH Securities, Stockholm Stock Exchange requested that ACH Securities disclose information about the identity of the customers who had conducted the transactions. The background to the Exchange's request was that there had been indications of insider trading. ACH Securities opposed the Exchange's request to disclose the information, referring to the fact that such disclosure would be contrary to Switzerland's secrecy laws. Switzerland's secrecy laws did not prevent ACH Securities from concluding agreements with its customers regarding the right to disclose the information requested by Stockholm Stock Exchange. The Swiss regulator has confirmed this fact. In its decision, Stockholm Stock Exchange's Board states that ACH Securities has not taken any action to enable it to disclose information of the kind requested by the Exchange, either in this matter or in the future. This means that the company does not fulfill the requirements for exchange membership. According to both current Swedish stock exchange legislation and the agreements between the Stockholm Stock Exchange and exchange members, members are obliged to disclose the information that the Exchange requests to enable it to perform its duties. Such duties include monitoring that trading is conducted in accordance with the laws and other rules governing equities trading. Being able to obtain information from members is a prerequisite for an exchange to perform its duties. "In order for Stockholm Stock Exchange to be able to carry out an efficient market surveillance and to maintain the confidence for the Swedish securities market, it is imperative that members furnish the exchange with such information as the exchange needs. Stockholm Stock Exchange is required to terminate the membership, if there is a lack in this prerequisite" comments Anders Ackebo, Senior Vice President Surveillance within OMX Exchanges and Stockholm Stock Exchange. For more information or comments, please contact Anders Ackebo, Senior Vice President Surveillance, OMX Exchanges/Stockholm Stock Exchange, +46 8 405 70 10 About OMX Exchanges: OMX Exchanges is a division of OMX. OMX Exchanges operates the stock exchanges in Stockholm, Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius, as well as the central securities depositories in Finland, Estonia and Latvia. Via OMX Exchanges, customers are offered access to 80 percent of the Nordic and Baltic securities market. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2004/09/29/20040929BIT20080/wkr0001.pdf