A court in Helsinki has rejected an appeal made by a group of Finnish banks and brokerage firms relating to a lawsuit filed against OMX over value added tax (VAT) payments charged for clearing services during 1995-2000.
The group of 22 firms had appealed against a district court decision made in June last year which rejected a claim for EUR5 million against Nordic and Baltic market operator OMX.
The claim was originally filed in June 2004 and related to VAT that the Finnish firms paid to the Helsinki Exchanges - which merged with Swedish OM - and Finnish depository APK for trading and clearing services during the five year period.
In today's statement OMX says the Helsinki District Court held up a decision that 20 of those 22 firms are precluded from presenting their claims because of an arbitration agreement reached in March 2002. The court's decision may be taken the Supreme Court only if leave to appeal is granted.
OMX says the dispute with two of the banks, involving a claim of EUR493,000, is continuing.