Euronext Securities Oslo adopted 16 November 2021 the new VPO NOK Rules that will enter into force when authorized under CSDR. The VPO NOK Rules include provisions on penalties and buy-in, in sections 25-27 and 28 respectively. These provisions are included to comply with the settlement discipline regime that enters into force in the EU and Norway 1 February 2022.

in the EU, it is recently agreed to postpone the implementation of the buy-in rules in the CSDR, as it is probable that the revision of CSDR may change the buy-in regime. ESMA made 17 December 2021 a public statement where they state that ESMA expect national competent authorities not to prioritize supervisory actions in relation to the application of the CSDR buy-in regime. The Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority (NFSA) published a statement 21 December 2021 where they state that they have noticed the public statement made by ESMA, and that the NFSA on their part will not prioritize such supervision.

The public statement from the NFSA can be found here: Buy-in regimet i verdipapirsentralforordningen (CSDR) – Finanstilsynet.no

Based on the public statements made by the NFSA and ESMA, we have decided to repeal chapter 28 on buy-in from the VPO NOK Rules that will enter into force under CSDR. We have also taken out the footers on enter into force to sections 25, 26 and 27 on penalties.

Updated VPO NOK Rules under CSDR can be found here.

ES-OSL obtained on the 28 January approval from the Norwegian FSA (NFSA) to operate as a Central Securities Depository in accordance with EUs Central Securities Depositories Regulation, (CSDR), see letter from the NFSA below (only in Norwegian).

An overriding purpose of the regulation is to promote a secure, efficient and well-functioning securities settlement and recording of financial instruments.

CEO of Euronext Securities Oslo, Audun Bø, comments; «This is an important milestone for Euronext Securities Oslo. The CSDR license ensures our ability to offer a secure, transparent and efficient infrastructure with associated services to the Norwegian capital market, for the benefit of issuers, investors and market participants from all over the world.”

ES-OSL is authorized to perform the following core services:

• Initial recording of securities in a book-entry system (“notary service”);

• Providing and maintaining securities accounts at the top tier level (“central maintenance service”)

• Operating a securities settlement system (“settlement service”).

In addition, ES-OSL can continue to offer a wide range of ancillary services.

ES-OSL will implement CSDR from 1 March this year. From this date, new ES-OSL Rules (the Registration Rules and the VPO NOK Rules) will enter into force. The set of Rules are available on ES-OSL’s website together with other relevant CSDR information.

From the same date, transitional rules will be introduced for non-Norwegian issuers of shares that have recorded shares in ES-OSL’s register according to the so-called Singel Securities Link method. This includes instruments where the Issuer Account Operator acts as ES-OSL’s nominee through being recorded as the holder in the issuer’s Register of Members, enabling the recording in ES-OSL. The transitional period will expire 31 December 2022.

In connection with the introduction of CSDR, the NFSA has set a condition that Account Operators shall publish their prices (point C. in the permit from the NFSA). ES-OSL will include this condition in the Registration Rules from 1 June this year.

ES-OSL confirms that CSDR settlement discipline will be introduced from 1 March.

ES-OSL wants to thank all Account Operators and Settlement Participants for their cooperation in the implementation phase of CSDR.

Letter from Norwegian FSA

Euronext Securities Oslo has just released a brand new Data Services page in the VPS Issuer Services application

During the last years, Euronext Securities Oslo has seen both the need and demand for our clients and registered companies to have a better overview of their security and related data. Not just the big events, but day-to-day operations. The value of having complete insight over your own data is assessed to be of high importance, and we’ve now made it a lot easier to get this form of insight. The products available on the new Data Services page are developed to create value-added services for our clients. With an easy click and subscribe function directly in the application, targeted products to meet different needs, and with a short delivery, frequency and cancellation periods on-demand, we are confident that our issuers will find our products valuable in the administration of their security going forward.

Four products are available on the Data Services page in our first release. They are:

Equity Pulse

• A weekly snapshot of the performance of your security. Delivered as a pdf report every Monday morning. Learn more here.

Top 20 Shareholders

• The required top 20 largest shareholders in a daily feed that can be displayed on your website.

Top Shareholder Changes

• The 50 biggest changes in your shareholder base, via a daily feed. Covers changes that are larger than NOK 100,000 or 0.01% of the market value. Learn more here

Shareholder Feed

• A daily feed of your entire shareholder base. Often used for internal analysis or publication on websites. Learn more here

Want to learn more about what we can offer in terms of data products? Contact us at:  data.vps@euronext.com

Companies are increasingly opting to register their shares with Euronext Securities Oslo. For example, in 2021 over 100 companies registered with Euronext Securities Oslo, an increase of approximately 10%.  Among these are a growing number of small- and medium-sized companies. In this article, we look at what’s driving this trend and how the newly registered companies have benefitted.  

Easing the annual tax reporting burden 

According to Jo Daniel Weise, Head of Tax Services at Euronext Securities Oslo, one of the main drivers for the increase in registrations is companies’ desire to reduce the administrative burden associated with tax reporting. “A typical pain point for companies who decide to use our services is the need to carry out the annual tax reporting, which can be a time-consuming task,” he says. “Once a company registers their shares with us, they benefit from our automatic tax reporting services, which makes life easier for the company and its shareholders.” 

Simplified shareholder register maintenance 

Companies registering with Euronext Securities Oslo also get access to tools that simplify shareholder register maintenance. “Growth companies typically start out by maintaining their shareholder register in a simple spreadsheet and distributing investor information via email,” explains Nicholas Schulz, Head of Issuer Services at Euronext Securities. “However, as the company grows and the number of shareholders increase, such manual processes quickly become inadequate.”  

Euronext Securities Oslo offers an online shareholder register application that provides companies with tools such as a daily updated shareholder overview, a full transaction history and corporate actions information at investor level, as well as services that simplify shareholder communication. Euronext Securities Oslo also collaborates with third-party companies that provide value-adding services tailored to growth companies. “These tools provide greater transparency around a company’s shareholders and shareholder movements, without the manual maintenance otherwise required, making it easier to strengthen shareholder engagement,” Nicholas Schulz says. 

Value-adding for the company’s shareholders 

Nicholas Schulz also highlights how registering in Euronext Securities Oslo offers benefits for the company’s shareholders as well. “Shareholders can easily view their shareholdings by accessing the VPS Investor Portal and ensure that the right ownership information is registered at all times. Furthermore, shareholders may use the instruments as collateral. The ownership information is maintained by professional financial service institutions, ensuring that the protection of the shareholder’s interests.”  

To find out more about how your company could benefit from registering with Euronext Securities Oslo, click here and fill in the online form if you would like to be contacted directly.

Euronext Securities Oslo is pleased to announce a partnership with Nordea to offer a new virtual general meeting (VGM) service to Norwegian issuers.

Euronext Securities Oslo already provides Nordea with a wide range of general meeting services. After conducting several successful VGM pilots in 2021 and 2022, and based on sound experience arranging VGMs in Denmark, Nordea chose Euronext Securities Oslo as its VGM provider. The timing coincides nicely with recent changes in Norwegian legislation, which require issuers to offer a virtual option for their annual general meetings.

When commenting on the new partnership, John Höglund, Client Relations and Segment Manager at Euronext Securities Oslo stated, “Virtual general meetings make it easier for shareholders to exercise their rights, and they offer benefits for issuers as well such as increased shareholder engagement, paperless voting, efficient execution of their general meetings, and more. The pandemic paved the way for a wider adoption of virtual general meeting solutions, and we expect the increased market demand to continue. We look forward to strengthening our collaboration with Nordea and to meet the market demand for flexible general meeting solutions.”  

A special thanks to Zusanna Norrild, Anne Kristine Kaspersen, Karin Blomberg and Jan Främling for a great cooperation. To find out more about Euronext Securities’ VGM services, visit the product page here.