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

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

The Swedish Securities Markets Association (SSMA) has signed an agreement with Nordic Trustee as provider of the transparency reporting and publishing service in accordance with SSMA Recommendation on Bond Market Transparency.

In November 2020, the SSMA Board 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 1st 2021, at the latest, and in summary provides that 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, respectively. Nordic Trustee provides trustee and agency services for bonds in the Nordic region, NBP is a provider of bond pricing and index services, and Stamdata is an established source of bond market information and distributor of data 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. In order 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 Financial Supervisory Authority has encouraged also market participants that are not members of the SSMA to apply the Recommendation.

Urban Funered, CEO Swedish Securities Markets Association, comments:

“We are pleased to announce that we have selected Nordic Trustee as provider of the transparency reporting and publishing service under our Recommendation, which is expected to go “live” on 1st 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 who are not members of the SSMA to reach out to the SSMA or Nordic Trustee in order to be able to participate in the reporting.

For any questions relating to this press release, please contact:

SSMA: Urban Funered, urban@svpm.se

Nordic Trustee: Aleksander Nervik, nervik@nordictrustee.com

SSMA NT Bond Market Transparency Press Release – 19 April 2021