Norwegian trader leaves €114m hole in Nordic energy trading market
A Norwegian trader who was once the country’s highest tax payer has been kicked off the Nasdaq after defaulting, leaving a €114m (£101m) hole in the clearing house’s default fund.
Power trader Einar Aas said in a statement “My position was too big in relation to the market’s liquidity”.
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The default was caused by extraordinary fluctuations in the spread between the German and Nordic power markets, Nasdaq said in a statement.
Aas confirmed that Nasdaq had sold off his portfolio after the default and that he now risked personal bankruptcy.
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In 2016 Aas was Norway’s largest tax payer, earning 883m kroner (£81m) and paying 227m kroner in tax according to Norwegian business paper Dagens Naeringsliv.
Nasdaq used money from the default fund to rectify the shortfall.
Market members now have two days to replenish the fund or risk getting kicked off the market.