OMHEX, the company formed by the merger of OM and the Helsinki Stock Exchange, and Sweden's SEB Merchant Banking are exploring the creation of a back office utility that will service banks and brokerage firms in the Nordic marketplace.
The firms will carry out a design study for the back office utliity which, they say, will support the development of an integrated Nordic market by offering services through shared infrastructure, providing increased connectivity and straight-through processing (STP).
Klas Ståhl, president, OM Technology, comments: "The combination of our experience in system operation and transaction processing, together with SEB's expertise, will strengthen the platform from which we will deliver a superior back-office service to the Nordic market."
Mikael Björknert, head of Securities Services, SEB Merchant Banking, says: "We see this as a natural step in enhancing services to our clients in all Nordic countries."
Additionally, OMHEX says SEB's Helsinki branch will assume responsibility for custody customers that are currently handled by its Finnish subsidiary HBO. Under the agreement, SEB has outsourced transaction processing for these particular clients back to OMHEX.