The two largest issuers of fixed income securities listed on the NASDAQ Iceland are the Icelandic Government (through the Central Bank of Iceland - Government Debt Management) and the state-owned Housing Financing Fund (HFF). The Nominal Treasury Bonds are benchmarks for non-indexed bonds, while HFF bonds serve as indexed benchmarks.
A feature of the market is the listing of bonds and bills on NASDAQ Iceland. As listed instruments, they benefit from a well established order-driven trading structure and safeguards. Trades can be executed both on and off-exchange. All trades must be reported to the Stock Exchange within short time limits.
The Government and the Housing Financing Fund have both signed agreements with Primary Dealers regarding market making arrangement in benchmark series. The agreements have proven to be effective for the market, leading to increased turnover and liquidity for the benchmark series.
Icelandic Treasury securities can be purchased from Primary Dealers. They also provide custody services including regular statements of holdings and portfolio movements, and the monitoring of domestic and foreign securities i.e. dividends, bonus shares, mergers, interest payments and redemptions etc.
International settlement is now also an option, as Icelandic Treasury Securities have been eligible in Clearstream Banking since April 2004 and the HFF issues from the Housing Finance Fund are issued at Euroclear.