Nordics Plan to Merge Their Stock Markets

A group of major companies and investors is exploring whether Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland should combine their national stock exchanges into a single marketplace.

The Proposal

An industry alliance called Nordic Compass is studying the idea of merging the four countries' exchanges and harmonising their regulatory rules. The alliance includes more than 25 major organisations, such as Wallenberg Investments, EQT, Nordea, SEB, Nasdaq Nordic, Ericsson, Nokia, Saab, Ørsted and the Novo Nordisk Foundation. It is chaired by Jyrki Katainen, a former prime minister of Finland.

Why Do This?

The main goals are to:

· Increase liquidity – make it easier to buy and sell shares

· Attract more companies to list on the exchanges

· Make cross-border investment easier

Nordic pension funds and sovereign investors manage nearly $4 trillion, but this money is currently spread across four separate markets. A single market could pool this capital and create a stronger, more attractive marketplace.

Who Owns the Exchanges?

Any merger would need cooperation from three key players:

· Nasdaq – operates most of the region's national exchanges

· Euronext – owns the Oslo Stock Exchange

· Euroclear – handles settlement of securities trades

Euronext has signalled it is open to the idea, saying it welcomes initiatives to make Nordic capital markets "even more competitive globally."

What Happens Next?

The work is still at an early stage – "no agreement has yet been reached on specific initiatives or conclusions," said Christian Clausen, who leads the alliance's capital markets work and is BlackRock's chairman for the Nordics.

The alliance's first proposals are expected to be presented at a summit in Gothenburg on 4-5 November 2026 – that is when we may learn whether the idea moves from analysis to concrete plans.