Riga, Latvia, 15 March 2012. NASDAQ OMX Riga reports that as of March 19, 2012 ABLV Bank, AS bonds will be listed on the NASDAQ OMX Baltic Bond list. As a result of issuing bonds denominated in EUR and USD in three separate issues, ABLV Bank, AS raised funds from investors at total value over 33.6 million LVL.

“We are pleased that more and more companies in the Baltic countries acknowledge the advantages of issuing bonds. It is possible to receive sizeable funds from various investors – investment funds, pension funds, financial institutions, and often also from private individuals. Up to now, the typical value of the money raised by Baltic companies via bonds issues used to be in the range from 0.25 million LVL up to as much as 35 million LVL”, says Liene Dubava, Head of Issuer Services, NASDAQ OMX Baltic.

“By listing our bonds on the NASDAQ OMX Baltic Bond list, we are providing extra liquidity and transparency to our investors. We believe that, compared to long-term bank deposit, bonds are a more convenient investment instrument for investor. Therefore, we intend to proceed with issuing bonds and listing them on the market, thus making ABLV Bank-issued securities accessible not only to our clients but other investors as well”, comments Māris Kannenieks, CFO, ABLV Bank, AS.

About bonds issue

Corporate bonds listing on a stock exchange and selling them to both domestic and international investors are a means how businesses can raise capital on public securities market.

Issuing bonds can be compared to taking a loan; only in this case a company would not be borrowing from a bank but from a broad investor base. The terms and conditions are defined by the company itself, in particular, the maturity, coupon rate, redemption arrangements. Moreover, no collateral is required for borrowing from the market via issuing bonds.

Bonds may be issued by central and local government and also by private sector companies. To issue bonds and list them on NASDAQ OMX Riga:

• the value of the issue should be not less than EUR 200,000;
• bonds should be EUR, USD or LVL-denominated and need to be entered in the books of Latvian Central Depository;
• the company should have a business history of at least two years;
• financial statements for at least the last year should be prepared according to IFRS.

The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. is the world's largest exchange company. It delivers trading, exchange technology and public company services across six continents, with more than 3,500 listed companies. NASDAQ OMX offers multiple capital raising solutions to companies around the globe, including its U.S. listings market, NASDAQ OMX Nordic, NASDAQ OMX Baltic, NASDAQ OMX First North, and the U.S. 144A sector. The company offers trading across multiple asset classes including equities, derivatives, debt, commodities, structured products and exchange-traded funds. NASDAQ OMX technology supports the operations of over 70 exchanges, clearing organizations and central securities depositories in more than 50 countries. NASDAQ OMX Nordic and NASDAQ OMX Baltic are not legal entities but describe the common offering from NASDAQ OMX exchanges in Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Iceland, Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. For more information about NASDAQ OMX, visit http://www.nasdaqomx.com.