Page 12: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 1999)

Marine Finance ority is logical given the importance of the shipping and offshore sector to the

OSE and to the Norwegian economy.

Secondly, the Oslo market remains a unique and attractive one for interna- tional shipping and offshore companies thanks to the expertise of the entire mar- ket environment: Oslo is alive with a community of skilled professionals ranging from investors to analysts, stockbrokers to shipbrokers, bankers to lawyers, insurance companies to ship lending institutions, shipyards to the

Norwegian International Ship Registry (NIS) and even the class society Det

Norske Veritas.

Oslo's many analysts and stockbrokers are very knowledgeable about the spe- cialist maritime areas and are world renowned for this. Many brokerage firms have their own specialist shipping, cruise or offshore analysts.

The commitment to the maritime by the various participants in the financial market in Oslo was proven when the

OSE, together with the Norwegian Soci- ety of Financial Analysts (NFF), arranged a one-day Tanker Market Con- ference in Oslo in March this year. The conference was very well attended by more than 150 analysts, investors, shipowners, bankers, journalists and others. For the Oslo Stock Exchange, playing a role in such arrangements, promoting a higher level of knowledge about OSE listed and other maritime companies, is a natural consequence of our maritime strength and priority.

Moreover, at the OSE we interpret the stock exchange's role as a meeting point between companies on one side and investors on the other, to include some- thing more than providing access to an electronic equity trading system alone.

By utilizing proactive efforts, our aim is to continuously improve the quality and liquidity of the Oslo stock market and so increasingly attract and retain companies, investors and investment banks to the market.

Another maritime product of this thinking is the Ship Finance Forum

Oslo, which will take place for the first time in June this year. The Forum has been created to provide an unbiased platform for shipowners, operators, investors and financiers to discuss the most dramatic trends and issues effect- ing the ship finance industry. A further idea behind the Forum is to place an international focus on the unique ship- ping and shipping-finance infrastructure that exists in Oslo. This year's Forum will concentrate on the availability of capital and the aim in this context is to assist owners to match the right financ- ing source with the right project.

Set against this background, at the threshold of the new millennium, the

OSE is set to play an active role in the future in the Norwegian capital market in general, and the maritime sectors in particular. The technical foundations are in place with the new state-of-the-art

Equity Trading System successfully introduced in February this year. The new trading system has increased mar- ket transparency and made remote memberships possible. In addition, the

OSE is currently preparing to offer multi-currency trading to customers in the near future. At the OSE the empha- sis on customer needs — both investors and issuers — continues to be a driving force and will lead the way in to the new millennium.

By Oddleif Hatlem, Marketing Manager,

Oslo Stock Exchange

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