Stockholm Stock Exchange s Disciplinary Committee fines Danske Bank

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1 Press release, September 22, 2006 Stockholm Stock Exchange s Disciplinary Committee fines Danske Bank Danske Bank A/S has contravened the rules of the Stockholm Stock Exchange by placing orders on behalf of its customers at prices considerably deviating from the current market value. In one case, the bank acquired shares on its own behalf at this lower price which the bank had entered into the trading system. Stockholm Stock Exchange s Disciplinary Committee has therefore decided to fine Danske Bank SEK 200,000 and has issued a warning to a broker at Danske Bank. Danske Bank is a member of the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Exchange members must comply with the Norex Member Rules, NMR. According to these rules, any party who places an order into the Stockholm Stock Exchange trading system to acquire or sell shares must make sure the order reflects the current market value of the share in question. To establish the current market value, for instance, changes in the share price during the current and previous trading days must be taken into account. Exchange trading is also governed by the commission law, which states that a member of the exchange which acquires a customer s shares is not allowed to do so at a price lower than the current market price. On April 10, 2006, Danske Bank placed orders regarding shares in Boliden, Munters, Volvo, Vostok Nafta and West Siberian Resources on behalf of its customers. These orders were placed on levels considerably deviating from the closing prices of the previous trading day. Thereby the orders did not reflect the current market value, which meant that the NMR rules had been contravened. As for the shares in Munters, the bank had placed a sell order on behalf of a customer, with a lower limit of SEK 228, despite a closing price of SEK 261 on the previous day of business. The bank then placed a purchase order for SEK 229 on its own behalf and thereby acquired 350 shares at this price. Thereby the bank contravened the rules of the commission law. The Disciplinary Committee found that Danske Bank has disregarded the NMR as well as the commission law and thus fined the company SEK 200,000 and issued a warning to the broker.

2 For more information, please contact: Ulrika Areskog, Communications Manager, Stockholm Stock Exchange About the Disciplinary Committee The role of Stockholm Stock Exchange s Disciplinary Committee is to consider suspicions regarding whether Exchange Members, brokers or listed companies have breached the rules and regulations applying on the Exchange. If the Exchange suspects that a member, broker or listed company has acted in breach of the Exchange s rules and regulations, the matter is reported to the Disciplinary Committee. The Exchange investigates the suspicions and pursues the matter and the Disciplinary Committee issues a ruling regarding possible sanctions. The sanctions possible for listed companies are a warning, a fine or delisting. The fines that may be imposed range from one to 15 annual fees. The sanctions possible for Exchange Members are a warning, a fine or debarment, while brokers may be warned or have their brokerage license rescinded. The Disciplinary Committee s Chairman and Deputy Chairman must be lawyers with experience of serving as judges. At least two of the other members of the Committee must have in-depth insight into the workings of the securities market. Members: Supreme Court Justice Johan Munck (Chairman), Supreme Court Justice Marianne Lundius (Deputy Chairman), Madeleine Leijonhufvud (professor), Stefan Erneholm (company director) and Hans Mertzig (company director). Deputy Members: Hans Edenhammar (MBA), Claes Beyer (lawyer), Jack Junel (company director), Ragnar Boman (MBA) and Carl Johan Högbom (MBA). About OMX OMX is a leading expert in the exchange industry. 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. Our integrated technology solutions span the transaction chain enabling efficient securities transactions for exchanges, clearing organizations and central securities depositories around the world. OMX is listed on the Nordic Exchange in Stockholm, Helsinki and Copenhagen. For more information, please visit /

3 STOCKHOLM STOCK EXCHANGE S RULING September 21, 2006 DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE 2006:5 Stockholmsbörsen AB Danske Bank A/S Peder Christensen Danske Bank A/S is a member of the Stockholm Stock Exchange (Stockholmsbörsen AB). Membership is governed by the Norex Member Rules (NMR), the stock exchange s rules. On May 14, 2002, Danske Bank signed an undertaking (Norex Membership Agreement) whereby it pledged to comply with the rules applying at each point in time as long as its membership prevailed. As shown in the enclosed appendix, the Stockholm Stock Exchange requested that the Disciplinary Committee announce a ruling regarding disciplinary action concerning Danske Bank and Peder Christensen, a stockbroker employed by the company, pursuant to NMR. Danske Bank issued its opinion during the preparatory administration of the matter and has informed the Disciplinary Committee that it has nothing further to add. Peder Christensen has not commented specifically on the matter. Neither of the parties has requested an oral hearing. The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority has issued its opinion on the matter. According to Item of NMR, the Stockholm Stock Exchange s Disciplinary Committee shall decide on sanctions if a member breaches the rules and regulations contained in NMR, Swedish law or other provisions that govern the members activities on the Exchange or that contravene generally acceptable practices in the securities market. The Disciplinary Committee may also order sanctions against a stockbroker who contravenes NMR. NMR Section stipulates the following. Order placed in the Order Book, Automatically Matched Trades and Manual Trades must reflect the current market value of the Instrument in question and constitute genuine Orders and Trades. 5005/

4 Current market value for Trades means prices, which, upon a comprehensive assessment, reflect the current pricing of the Instrument in question. When assessing the current market value, consideration should be made to, among other things, the changes in the pricing of the Instrument during the relevant Exchange Day, the changes in the pricing of the Instrument on previous Exchange Days, the volatility of the Instrument and the general changes in the pricing of comparable Instruments and, where relevant other particular conditions related to the Trade. The inquiry into the matter showed that the following had occurred. On April 10, 2006, orders were placed in the opening call by Danske Bank, through the broker Peder Christensen, pertaining to shares in Boliden, Munters, Volvo, Vostok Nafta and West Siberian Resources. These orders were limited in a manner that deviated significantly from the closing prices on the preceding day of trading. Regarding this matter, Danske Bank has stated that Christensen regarded all the orders concerned, with the exception of that for Munters, as relatively small in relation to liquidity in the shares and that, accordingly, he did not believe that they could affect the share prices during the opening call. In order to ensure that these customer orders were implemented, they were placed at a level that was more than 10% lower than the closing price on Friday, April 7. By so doing, Christensen failed to sufficiently take into account the rules of NMR. The bank accepts that the orders did not reflect the current market value of the particular shares. The Disciplinary Committee also finds it established that the orders did not reflect the current market value of the particular shares. Accordingly, Danske Bank breached the rules of Item of NMR. Particularly with respect to trading in Munters, the investigation shows that Danske Bank placed a sales order in the opening call on April 10, 2006 pertaining to 1,000 shares limited to a price of SEK 228. In close conjunction with this, the bank placed a purchase order for its own account at a price of SEK 229. The closing price on the preceding trading day was SEK 261. The placement of the order led to the customer s entire order being transacted at the opening price of SEK 229, whereby the bank retained 350 shares for its own account. Concerning this point, Danske Bank has stated that the liquidity in Munters shares was so insignificant that Peder Christensen had concluded that it was doubtful whether it would be possible to implement the customer s order at all. In order to activate possible purchase orders, Christensen placed a purchase order for the bank s own account pertaining to 1,000 shares and changed the limit several times. Although this order was canceled, the bank placed a new purchase order with a limit of SEK 229, which ended up corresponding to the opening price, and was thus able to execute the customer s sales order, which was limited to a price of SEK 228. The bank has subsequently compensated the customer for this by paying him SEK 261 per share. As stated by the Stockholm Stock Exchange, the placement of the order must be regarded as infringing the rules stipulated in the Act regarding Factors, Commercial Agents and Commercial Travelers (1914:45) (see Sections 7, 9 and 42 of the said act). Danske Bank 5005/

5 has not contested the applicability of the said act and, in view of its significance to stock exchange operations, the said act must be regarded as belonging to the statutes referred to in Item of NMR. With respect to Danske Bank, the breaches of Item of NMR and of the Act regarding Factors, Commercial Agents and Commercial Travelers cannot be regarded as minor and, accordingly, the bank must be subject to disciplinary action. With respect to Peder Christensen, however, it is considered sufficient that a warning be issued. The Disciplinary Committee fines Danske Bank A/S SEK 200,000 and issues a warning to Peder Christensen. On behalf of the Disciplinary Committee, Johan Munck Supreme Court Justice Johan Munck, Supreme Court Justice Marianne Lundius, Professor Madeleine Leijonhufvud, Company Director Hans Mertzig and Company Director Stefan Erneholm participated in the deliberations. Unanimous. 5005/