no 42/08 Breach of internal routines at Nord Pool ASA


Lysaker, 30 June 2008     

On Monday, 30 June 2008, Nord Pool ASA discovered that a single trader with one of the members erroneously had been granted access to view trade orders from all members from 14.39 on Friday 27 June 2008. The erroneous access rights were revoked right after opening on Monday 30 June, and the trader was furthermore suspended from the market until 09.30 to prevent trading on insider information. 

Nord Pool ASA regrets the incident, and preliminary investigations do not indicate that any insider information has been misused. No trades have been registered by the trader for the duration of the incident or the suspension period, and no unusual market activity has been unveiled following the incident. Market surveillance will however monitor the market and the member closely to ensure that incident does not cause any adverse effects to the integrity of the market. 

Nord Pool ASA has not experienced similar incidents in the past; however the incident has unveiled a flaw in the internal routines. Investigations show that the trader was given incorrect user credentials in the process of opening up a new user account. The internal routines have already been modified to prevent reoccurrence, and Nord Pool ASA will take all necessary precautions to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Nord Pool ASA wishes to emphasise that the trader handled the situation in a correct manner by immediately informing Nord Pool ASA about the incident, and refraining from trading while holding insider information.
For further information, please contact Nord Pool ASA: 

Erik Thrane, general counsel, phone + 47 6752 8089 

Press contact: Lars Galtung, vice president communications, 
phone +47 6752 8080/+47 9821 4812