All Bell ceremonies

Wolters Kluwer celebrates ‘Bronze Class Sustainability Award’

For the eighth year in a row, Wolters Kluwer (ticker symbol: _WKL) has been awarded the Bronze Class Sustainability Award from RobecoSAM, as part of “The Sustainability Yearbook.” In the same week, Wolters Kluwer was again recognized as one of the ‘Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World’ by Corporate Knights for the third consecutive year.

The repeated inclusion in these important environmental, social and governance indices endorses the Wolters Kluwer digital-first and innovation-driven sustainability strategy. Wolters Kluwer continues its commitment towards business practices which minimize the environmental impact and maximize societal benefits.  

RobecoSAM’s The Sustainability Yearbook is the world’s most comprehensive publication on corporate sustainability. Since 2004, The Sustainability Yearbook has listed the world’s most sustainable companies in each industry as determined by their score in RobecoSAM’s annual Corporate Sustainability Assessment. Out of 4609 companies, the Global 100 has selected the 100 best performing stocks globally on the basis of 12 quantitative and sector-relevant sustainability indicators. Company secretary Maarten Thompson sounds the gong.

For more information: www.wolterskluwer.com

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Bell Ceremony at “ICMA-ACI Economic Summit” in Brussels

On 29 January 2015, Alan Strapart, President of ACI Belgium closed the European stock markets with a Bell Ceremony together with Herman Van Cauwenberge, President of ICMA Belgium at the Brussels Hotel Métropole to celebrate the opening of the Economic Summit. The conference was organised by these 2 organisations : ICMA and ACI.

The mission of ICMA is to promote resilient and well functioning international debt capital markets. Such markets are necessary for economic growth, and benefit market participants and their clients alike.

ACI Belgium is a member of ACI The Financial Market Association. ACI was founded in France in 1955 following an agreement between foreign exchange dealers in Paris and London.

If you would like to find out more about these 2 associations : www.acibelgium.be and www.icmagroup.org

Value8 sounds gong to mark acquisition AquaServa

By sounding the gong Value8 Tech Group marks the acquisition of AquaServa. CEO at Value8 (ticker symbol: VALUE), Peter Paul de Vries, opens trading.

The latest acquisition of Value8 is AquaServa, a leading party in the Netherlands in the field of water. AquaServa specializes in managing water systems and solving water-related problems such as legionella. Two other transactions are the acquisition of 60% of Kersten Healthcare, a provider of medical devices for people with disabilities and the acquisition of investment websites beursduivel.be and belegger.nl. With these transactions, the group has not only grown, but the focus changed to the growth sectors of primary health care and specialized financial services. The acquisition of AquaServa fits the ambition of the Value8 Tech Group to expand into high-quality service.

For more information: www.value8.com

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EnterNext welcomes Oceasoft on Alternext in Paris

Laurent Rousseau, CEO of Oceasoft, rings the opening bell.

Oceasoft specializes in the design, manufacture and marketing of surveillance systems for physical parameters (temperature, humidity, CO2 rate or differential pressure) for the healthcare and agro-food industries. The data captured by these connected sensors ensure real-time control and tracking of products sensitive to environmental parameters, such as vaccines, drugs or foodstuffs, during their manufacture as well as during storage and transport.
55.2% of the company's turnover is made in France.

New CFO Vastned, Reinier Walta, visits Euronext Amsterdam

Reinier Walta, the new CFO of Vastned, visits Euronext Amsterdam and opens trading by sounding the gong. Walta is accompanied by amongst others CEO Taco de Groot.

As of 1 November 2014, Reinier Walta is the new CFO of Vastned (ticker symbol: VASTN), the listed European retail property company focusing on ‘venues for premium shopping’. Vastned invests in selected cities in Europe and Istanbul, with a clear focus on the best retail property in popular shopping streets in the bigger cities. Vastned's tenants are leading international and national retail brands. The property portfolio has a size of approximately € 1.5 billion. Walta has over fifteen years of experience in the international property market. Over the past three years, as a Senior Transaction Manager, he was responsible from Abu Dhabi for the execution, structuring and financing of all major property transactions in Europe for the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). Walta was appointed by the shareholders of Vastned as CFO and Statutory Director for a period of four years.

For more information: www.vastned.com

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Royal Delft Group celebrates winning ‘Best Performer Award’

By sounding the gong Royal Delft Group (ticker symbol: PORF) celebrates winning the Euronext ‘Best Performer Award’, local market. CEO Henk Schouten, opens trading. Royal Delft Group won the award because of a performance of 61% in 2014.

Royal Delft Group: “Winning the Best Performer Award 2014 will motivate Royal Delft Group even more in trying to exceed expectations in 2015. The tourist industry as well as the retail market, both show good opportunities. Moving our offices from Zoetermeer to the location in Delft per 1 January 2015 will help to increase our performance in the next years.”

For more information: www.royaldelft.com

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Marktgevoel.nl celebrates fifth anniversary at Euronext

Investors website Marktgevoel.nl celebrates its fifth anniversary at Euronext Amsterdam. Executive director and stock trader Selwyn Duijvestijn sounds the gong and opens trading.

Marktgevoel was founded, especially, for active investors on the stock market and is managed by a team of professional traders, located at the Amsterdam trading floor.The Marktgevoel traders are constantly scanning the markets, hunting for the most promising stocks of the moment and provide an extensive report of their findings on Marktgevoel.nl and in the monthly Marktgevoel investor magazine.

For more information: www.marktgevoel.nl

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Danone opens bond market with historical coupon at 1,125%

Pierre André Terisse, CFO of Danone Group, in the presence of the teams participating in the operation, celebrates the  €1,3 billion dual tranche bond issue of the 7th of January 2015.

Danone is a regular issuer on the bond market under EMTN programme since 1996. This year, Danone opened the market with a dual tranche operation, a 5-year floating rate note of  550 millions euros  (coupon of Euribor 3 months +à,33%) and a 10-year fixed rate bond of 750 millions euros  (coupon of 1,125%) and thus, reinforces the financial structure of the group. This operation was widely subscribed and enables to finance the development of the group at very attractive conditions.

Gong marks World Leprosy Day

Amigurumi designer ‘DenDennis’(the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small stuffed animals), sounds the gong with mascot ‘Red Tomcat’ for World Leprosy Day.

On World Leprosy Day, that takes place on Sunday 25 January, DenDennis launches a Haakathon. Participants from all over the Netherlands will crochet a record number of Red Tomcats for charity, the Leprosy Foundation. Proceeds from the sales go to creative training for women with disabilities by leprosy, an infectious disease that infects hands, feet and eyes and eventually leads to severe disability. Jan Kruis, the founding father of the Red tomcat from comic book Jan, Jans and their children, is the ambassador of the Leprosy Foundation. He drew two adventures in which the famous comic family meets leprosy patients, in order to draw attention to this mutilating forgotten disease.

For more information: www.lepra.nl

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7th Edition Hedge Fund Research Conference

Elyes Jouini, Vice President for Research of Paris Dauphine University, and Anthony Attia, Chief Executive Officer of Euronext Paris, open the European trading day in Paris.

Researchers and practitioners in Finance celebrate the launching of House of Finance at Paris Dauphine University and to welcome the 7th Edition of Hedge Fund Research Conference.

KPN Junior Skating Club opens trading

Ambassador of KPN Junior Skating Club, Barbara de Loor, opens trading by sounding the gong.

The KPN Junior Skating Club is the KNSB’s “umbrella” holding activities for children between 6 and 12 years old. The KPN Junior Skating Club, together with sports clubs and other partners, organises a variety of skating clinics in the Netherlands to stimulate skating amongst children. The intend is a multidisciplinary offer (long track- and short track skating, marathon skating, and inline skating) so that the children can practice all disciplines. The Ambassadors of the KPN Junior Skating Club are Barbara de Loor (long track skating), Liesbeth Mau Asam (short track skating), and Mariska Huisman (inline skating).

For more information: www.schaatsen.nl/jeugd

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Winner SNS Securities Investment Expert Poll sounds gong

Winner of the 2014 SNS Securities Investment Expert Poll, the prize for best investment professional, Renno van Vuuren,owner and senior investment advisor at Vuurenvaart Capital Consultants, sounds the gong at Beursplein 5. With his top pick for Ziggo (+16%) and worst stock Imtech (-91%) his picks were the best of all 101 experts.

Every year asset manager ACTIAM and SNS Securities ask more than hundred investment professionals for their expectations for the best and the worst stock in the coming year. Besides that, the participants are asked for their vision on index level. The best investment professional receives the prize for best investment professional.

For more information: www.snssecurities.nl

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RIVM and Olijf Foundation sound gong for Cervical Cancer Prevention Week

The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and Olijf Foundation (a network of women with gynecologic cancer) open trading to mark the European Cervical Cancer Prevention Week that takes place from 24 to 31 January 2015.

The European Cervical Cancer Association (ECCA) has created the week to increase awareness for cervical cancer and its prevention. Worldwide, 250,000 women die each year from cervical cancer. This while the disease is often preventable through effective screening and vaccination. In the Netherlands a well-organized and free screening takes place. About 800,000 women are invited each year. Chairman of the foundation, Fenneke van Swigchum, sounds the gong.

For more information:www.rivm.nl/bevolkingsonderzoeknaarkanker

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State Street Global Advisors celebrates rebranding

State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) sounds the gong to celebrate re-launching its brand to more broadly convey its identity, strategic intent, capabilities and positioning in markets around the world.

The new brand launches on Monday, January 19, and will be led by a completely redesigned ssga.com. Materials reflecting the new look will begin to circulate and the transition will continue through February. The SPDR family will transition to this new brand platform during the second quarter of 2015. Head of the Benelux Team, Robert Rijlaarsdam, sounds the gong.

SSGA: “The new brand reinforces the qualities, attributes and capabilities that make SSGA relevant. Our brand messaging revolves heavily around our client-focused discipline, our unwavering commitment to research and the highly collaborative approach we take to working with clients in every interaction we have with them.”

For more information: www.ssga.com

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The Young Amsterdam Citizens of the Year 2014 sound gong

The Young Amsterdam Citizens of the Year 2014 Award winners,twins Vera and Anna van Korven and their friend Salma Moudifd sound the gong.

Vera, Anna and Salma are in the first year of high school, and this school year they started a project against cursing with the disease cancer. To stop this, they plan on giving presentations in the whole school. They even visited the oncology department of the hospital to get more information. But the girls do not stop there: because there was no restaurant at their new high school, they decided to start selling pizzas, with the profits donated to the cancer foundation. The girls also want to raise money by collecting empty bottles and organising a charity run. The Wikistad-foundation, in cooperation with the Discussion can be learned-Foundation, organised this junior election for the third time. The city of Amsterdam and newspaper Het Parool support the initiative. In the last couple of months, everyone in Amsterdam could nominate his or her little hero, in the age of 8 to 15 years. A jury chose the top 10 and the winner. The most important selection criterion was already determined by children themselves: the winner should be someone who works selflessly on behalf of the cause, and has to set an example for others.

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Gong marks Options on ETFs launch

By sounding the gong, the launch of Euronext Options on ETFs in Amsterdam is marked. Participants in the launch iShares, the ETF unit of Blackrock, global quantitative trading firm Susquehanna that acts as liquidity provider and asset manager Theodoor Gilissen and Van Lieshout & Partners open trading to celebrate.

Euronext announces the launch of options on six iShares ETFs on its highly successful and innovative Amsterdam derivatives market. The new option products will provide investors with enhanced investment opportunities in ETFs tracking a broad range of macro themes. The options on ETFs are developed and launched as a result of strong market demand. Richard de Jong, director asset management at Van Lieshout & Partners, sounds the gong.

For more information: derivatives.euronext.com/en/etf-options

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EY and ‘Startupbootcamp HighTechXL’ visit Euronext

By sounding the gong EY draws attention to the ‘Startupbootcamp HighTechXL’.

The teams of the accelerator program for high-tech startups are invited at Euronext to present themselves to potential investors and guests of program partners EY and ABN AMRO. The eleven participants Startupbootcamp HighTechXL were selected from 10,000 high-tech startups from around the world. In three months they are intensively mentored at High Tech Campus Eindhoven to get their businesses ready for the market. Guus Frericks, CEO Startupbootcamp HighTechXL, sounds the gong.

Patrick Gabriëls, co-founder of Startupbootcamp HighTechXL and partner at EY: “Helping companies in the early stages to develop is very important to EY. Successful and innovative entrepreneurs sharing their creativity and vision are an inspiration to others. EY in the Netherlands wants to contribute in this way to strengthen the business environment as part of a better functioning world."

For more information: www.startupbootcamp.org

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Winners of the Dutch IR Awards visit Beursplein 5

The winners of the Dutch IR Awards pay a visit to Beursplein 5 to sound the gong.

The winning companies and professionals are: AEX company; ASML, AEX professional; Martijn Schuttevaer, Boskalis, AMX company and professional; Joost Slooten, Arcadis, AScX/other company; Grontmij, AScX/other professional; Carl Hoyer, Wessanen. The IR life-time achievement award was awarded to Huub van Rozendaal, CFO Sligro. Winner Joost Slooten sounds the gong.

The Dutch Association of Investor Relations (NEVIR) presents the awards to Dutch companies and professionals who excel in investor relations. Winners are announced in the presence of more than 200 professionals during the Dutch IR Awards Dinner at the Amsterdam ArenA at the eighth edition of the Dutch IR Awards. The NEVIR represents the interests of its members. The vast majority of professional investor relations officers in the Netherlands is affiliated with the NEVIR; more than 95% of the AEX companies; nearly 60% of the AMX companies and 25% of other companies listed on Euronext Amsterdam.

For more information: www.nevir.nl

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