The Swedish Securities Markets Association signs agreement with Nordic Trustee to increase transparency on the Swedish bond market

In November 2020, the Board of the Swedish Securities Markets Association (SSMA) adopted a Recommendation on Bond Market Transparency (the Recommendation) in an effort to increase transparency on the Swedish bond market through self-regulation. Transparency on the Swedish bond market has decreased since the implementation of the harmonized EU-framework under MiFID II/MiFIR, and the Recommendation follows a specific request from the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority that the SSMA investigate how transparency could be improved.

The Recommendation will apply from July 1^st 2021, and in summary provides that the participants in the Swedish bond market shall towards the end of each day publish aggregated information about transactions executed on the market. This information will be made available to the public through a service provider.

SSMA has following a selection process entered into an agreement with Nordic Trustee affiliates Nordic Bond Pricing (NBP) and Stamdata as service provider and distributor. Nordic Trustee provides trustee and agency services for bonds in the Nordic region, Nordic Bond Pricing is a provider of bond pricing and index services, supporting institutional investors, banks and other financial institutions operating in the bond market. Stamdata is a leading source of bond market information providing a database covering the Nordic market.

SSMA and its members are now actively working with NBP and Stamdata to finalize the required infrastructure as well as reporting and publishing process required ahead of the entry into force of the Recommendation.

The Recommendation applies to Swedish investment firms and corresponding foreign firms active on the Swedish bond market. For the Recommendation to fill its purpose, it should be applied by as many market participants as possible. A high level of adherence will improve price information and is also important for a well-functioning Swedish bond market. Against this background, the Swedish FSA has also encouraged market participants that are not members of the SSMA to apply the Recommendation (link).

 

Urban Funered, CEO Swedish Securities Markets Association, comments:

“We are pleased to announce that we have selected Nordic Trustee as service provider for the transparency reporting and publishing under our Recommendation, which is expected to go “live” on 1^st July 2021 at the latest. It is now important that all market participants active on the Swedish bond market, also those that are not members of the SSMA, apply the Recommendation, in order for us to improve transparency on the Swedish bond market while retaining a level playing field”, says Urban Funered.

Aleksander Nervik, EVP at Nordic Trustee, CEO at Stamdata and Board Member of NBP, comments:

“This is a recognition of our identity and the role Nordic Trustee, Nordic Bond Pricing and Stamdata play in the financial market, where we contribute to improve the efficiency in the already well-functioning Nordic bond market. The companies hold key roles in this project and will provide the services required by the industry to increase market transparency”, says Aleksander Nervik.

The Swedish Securities Markets Association encourages investment firms participating in the Swedish bond market and who are not members of the association to reach out in order to be able to participate in the reporting. Please find contact details below.

About the Swedish Securities Markets Association

The Swedish Securities Markets Association was founded on 15th December 1908 and represents 23 Swedish, Nordic and International banks and securities firms active on the Swedish securities markets. The Association’s overall mission is to work for sustainable and competitive Swedish securities markets.

Please visit the Association’s website.

About Nordic Trustee, Nordic Bond Pricing, and Stamdata

Nordic Bond Pricing was established by Nordic Trustee and the Norwegian Mutual Funds Association in 2013 and is an infrastructure company for the benefit of institutional investors, banks and other financial institutions operating in the bond market.

Nordic Bond Pricing offers evaluated bond pricing data and has developed bond indices that serve as a reference for the Norwegian bond market.

The company retrieves market data from a wide range of well-informed market sources and has developed a systematic approach to verify, analyze and transform this information into high quality bond market data. A large proportion of Nordic buy-side firms rely on Nordic Bond Pricing’s data in their net asset value calculations, as well as for benchmark and attribution analysis.

For more information, please visit Nordic Bond Pricing.

 

Stamdata was established in 2001 by Nordic Trustee in collaboration with leading bond market participants. Stamdata is the leading bond reference data provider offering the most complete database available in the Nordic market.

Stamdata offers a range of reference data and regulatory reporting automation services delivered through data feed/ API and the website stamdata.com. Stamdata is the distributor of Nordic Bond Pricing data.

The company works systematically with data quality using advanced technology. Data from multiple sources are fed through a rigorous cleaning and scrubbing process to ensure highest possible data quality to its clients.

For more information, please visit Stamdata services.

 

Nordic Trustee is the leading provider of trustee and agency services for bonds and direct lending in the Nordic region.

With offices in Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Helsinki, the company is currently handling more than 3000 active assignments in the non-bank lending sector for more than 800 issuers/lenders from 30 countries.

Throughout its existence, Nordic Trustee has played an important role in developing the Nordic bond market. This encompasses market initiatives such as Nordic Bond Pricing, Stamdata, Nordic Credit Rating and multiple infrastructure and digital solutions.

For more information, please click here.

 

For any questions relating this news update, please reach out to:

SSMA contact: Urban Funered, urban@svenskvardepappersmarknad.se

Nordic Trustee contact: Aleksander Nervik, nervik@nordictrustee.com