“Baker Tilly Baltics” Becomes a Certified Advisor of the Alternative Market First North

1/26/2012 5:40 AM EST

NASDAQ OMX Riga
Announcement from First North

“Baker Tilly Baltics” Becomes a Certified Advisor of the Alternative Market
First North

NASDAQ OMX Riga informs that as of today, audit firm “Baker Tilly Baltics” has
been approved a Certified Adviser of the alternative market First North in
Latvia. 

 „On alternative market, Certified Adviser is a key element. It serves as a
bridge between the company and the stock exchange. This is why we are happy for
“Baker Tilly Baltics” to join our list of Certified Advisers. We believe that
having a wider list of Certified Advisers will lead to a greater awareness
among companies in Latvia of the possibilities to raise capital on alternative
stock market. The experience of “Baker Tilly Baltics” and its expertise in
providing financial advice is expected to encourage more companies to follow
the example of “Goldinvest Asset Management” – the first company that joined
First North last year,” believes Liene Dubava, a NASDAQ OMX Riga Management
Board Member. 

Eriks Bahirs, Chairman of the Management Board, “Baker Tilly Baltics”, adds:
„During 13 years in the business, “Baker Tilly Baltics” has built its
experience annually auditing over 100 companies across Latvia, including
medium-size as well as large companies that are listed on the stock exchange
Secondary List, e.g. “Latvijas Balzams”, “Daugavpils Lokomotivju Remonta
Rupnica” and “Latvijas Tilti”. Apart from that, “Baker Tilly Baltics” provides
other professional services, such as tax consultancy, financial accounting,
restructuring and other services related to business development. Therefore I
am convinced that we shall succeed in establishing a good co-operation with the
companies that, we believe, could benefit from being listed on the alternative
market First North - be that investments that they seek for their business
expansion or publicity.” 

To join the alternative market, a company is required to cooperate with a
Certified Adviser operating at the First North. The main task of Certified
Adviser is to support the company in complying with the disclosure requirements
or other market rules, so that investors have sufficient amount of information
in order to take high quality investment decisions. 

As of today, four Certified Advisers are operating in the alternative market in
Latvia: “Ardente”, “Eventus Corporate Finance” and “SEB Enskilda”, and “Baker
Tilly Baltics”. Altogether 15 Certified Advisers are operating in First North
in the Baltic countries. 


About  “Baker Tilly Baltics”

“Baker Tilly Baltics” has been operating in Latvia since 1999, providing audit
and audit-related services, e.g. tax consultations, accounting services,
payroll calculations, corporate finance and financial legal advice. “Baker
Tilly Baltics” ranks No7 in Latvia in the audit firm top 10 (according to
sales). Combined with its Lithuanian and Estonian partners, “Baker Tilly
Baltics” has altogether 8 offices located in Riga, Jelgava, Daugavpils,
Tallinn, Tartu, Vilnius, Klaipeda and Kaunas with over 50 employees providing
services to the clients. 

“Baker Tilly Baltics” is a lawful and independent member of the auditor
association “Baker Tilly International”(www.bakertillyinternational.com).
“Baker Tilly International” is a global network of high quality, independent
accountancy and business advisory firms, all of whom are committed to providing
the best possible service to their clients, in their own marketplaces and
across the world. 

“Baker Tilly International” is the world`s 8th largest accountancy and business
advisory network, with a combined fee income of its independent members
amounting to USD 3.13 billion. It is represented by 147 independent firms in
114 countries with 26 000 people worldwide. 

About First North

First North is an alternative marketplace operated by NASDAQ OMX Nordic and
Baltic stock exchanges. Alternative market does not have the same legal status
as a regulated market in the EU. Companies traded on First North have to follow
the rules of First North instead of the requirements for a regulated market. In
the Nordic countries, as many as 123 companies are already traded on First
North. 

About NASDAQ OMX

The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. is the world's largest exchange company. It delivers
trading, exchange technology and public company services across six continents,
with approximately 3,600 listed companies. NASDAQ OMX offers multiple capital
raising solutions to companies around the globe, including its U.S. listings
market, NASDAQ OMX Nordic, NASDAQ OMX Baltic, NASDAQ OMX First North, and the
U.S. 144A sector. The company offers trading across multiple asset classes
including equities, derivatives, debt, commodities, structured products and
exchange-traded funds. NASDAQ OMX technology supports the operations of over 70
exchanges, clearing organizations and central securities depositories in more
than 50 countries.  NASDAQ OMX Nordic and NASDAQ OMX Baltic are not legal
entities but describe the common offering from NASDAQ OMX exchanges in
Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Iceland, Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. For more
information about NASDAQ OMX, visit http://www.nasdaqomx.com. Please follow
NASDAQ OMX on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/nasdaqomx) and Twitter
(http://www.twitter.com/nasdaqomx). 

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The matters described herein contain forward-looking statements that are made
under the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about
NASDAQ OMX's products and offerings. We caution that these statements are not
guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from
those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or other factors beyond
NASDAQ OMX's control. These factors include, but are not limited to factors
detailed in NASDAQ OMX's annual report on Form 10-K, and periodic reports filed
with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to
release any revisions to any forward-looking statements. 


         Aris Dreimanis, Communications Manager
         NASDAQ OMX Riga +371 67 212431