As previously communicated via IT Notice, Nasdaq Iceland will introduce an Auction Trading Market Segment for certain less liquid shares on First North Growth Market Iceland. Auction Trading reduces the risk of disorderly trading for shares with low liquidity.

Auction Trading Market Segment

The following new Market Segment will be activated from April 1, 2025 in production:

The First North Iceland Auction Market Segment will have five consecutive auctions during the trading day as follows (local times GMT):

• Opening auction, no change: Opening auction starts at 09:15 and follows the normal opening schedule as per today. The auction period ends with a random uncross within the last 5 seconds between 09:30:00 and 09:30:05.
• The first Scheduled Intraday auction starts immediately after the opening auction. The auction period ends with a random uncross within the last 5 seconds between 11:00:00 and 11:00:05.
• The second Scheduled Intraday auction starts immediately after the first Scheduled Intraday auction. The auction period ends with a random uncross within the last 5 seconds between 12:30:00 and 12:30:05.
• The third Scheduled Intraday auction starts immediately after the second Scheduled Intraday call. The auction period ends with a random uncross within the last 5 seconds between 14:00:00 and 14:00:05.
• Closing auction: The Closing auction starts immediately after the third Scheduled Intraday auction at 14:00. The auction period ends, as normally, with a random uncross within the last 30 seconds between 15:29:30 and 15:30:00.
• After uncross of the closing auction there will be no Trading @ Closing Price and instruments move directly to a post-trade session.  

Criteria for shares to be traded on First North Auction Market Segment

In order for a share to be moved to Auction trading, all of the following criteria must be fulfilled:

• The spread of the share exceeds 7% in continuous trading for two consecutive quarters. The spread is measured as an average of daily Relative Time Weighted Average Spread (RTWAS) during the quarter; and
• The share is not subject to a Market Maker Agreement or Liquidity Provider activity; and
• In case of dual listings, both shares exceed the spread criteria.

Shares to be moved to Auction trading

Nasdaq Iceland has identified the following shares fulfilling the above criteria (for Q3 and Q4 2024) and will be moved to Auction trading as of April 1, 2025.

Going forward, an assessment of whether the shares still fulfil the criteria is performed by Nasdaq Nordic* twice a year: for the first and second quarter of a year (Q1 and Q2) in the beginning of July, and for the third and fourth quarter of a year (Q3 and Q4), in the beginning of January.

Legal and Market Model

Nasdaq First North Growth Market Rulebook for Issuers of Shares contains the legal basis for allocating Instrument to and from Auction trading. The Rulebook has been updated and published on the Nasdaq Nordic website under Issuer Rules, effective from the launch of the services, on April 1, 2025.

The INET Nordic Market Model has been updated, effective as of launch of the service on April 1, 2025, in production and the updated version has been notified to the members via regulatory notice.

Time Schedule

• INET Test (NTF), GCF TST4 – Available
• INET Production – April 1, 2025

Questions and feedback

For further information and feedback concerning this information, please contact Nasdaq Iceland, +354 525 2850, Exchange.ice@nasdaq.com.

 Best regards,

Nasdaq Nordic
 

*Nasdaq Nordic represents the common offering by Nasdaq Copenhagen, Nasdaq Helsinki, Nasdaq Stockholm and Nasdaq Iceland.