Analytics, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services

“During the past few years we have seen an abrupt surge in cross-border movement of securities between Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. By making the operations of the market better understandable and faster, we will increase the attractiveness of the Baltic securities market for local as well as for foreign investors – the market will become more harmonised, bigger and more liquid,” said LETA Tex Vertmann, communications and marketing director of the Tallinn Stock Exchange and the Estonian Securities Centre, writes EPL Onlin.

“Costs on converting currencies in cross-border trading would decrease and it would be more convenient to have an overview of the investment portfolio as everything would be in the same currency,” he added.

According to Vertmann, the precondition of executing the idea is the agreement from central banks, financial supervision authorities and market participants of all three countries. “Negotiations are being held with all of them,” he added.

If agreements will be achieved and the relevant technical developments executed, the earliest possible deadline for implementing the change would be summer 2008.