Terra Securities ASA

Allmennaksjeselskap

Allmennaksjeselskap , or ASA, is the Norwegian term for a public limited company. "ASA" or "asa" is added to the company name of all Norwegian companies registered as Allmennaksjeselskap....

was a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 security company

Security (finance)

A security is generally a fungible, negotiable financial instrument representing financial value. Securities are broadly categorized into:* debt securities ,* equity securities, e.g., common stocks; and,...

 that sold various financial instruments, index options, hedge fund

Hedge fund

A hedge fund is a private pool of capital actively managed by an investment adviser. Hedge funds are only open for investment to a limited number of accredited or qualified investors who meet criteria set by regulators. These investors can be institutions, such as pension funds, university...

s and other investment securities through 78 local savings banks

Sparebank

Sparebank is a Norwegian savings bank without external owners. The Norwegian sparebanks are a separate type of juridical entity that differ from commercial banks. There are a total of 123 savings banks in Norway.- History :...

 that are members of Terra-Gruppen

Terra-Gruppen

Terra-Gruppen, branded as Terra is an alliance between 77 Norwegian savings banks. Terra-Gruppen is a strategic alliance of local Norwegian savings banks, and co-ordinates work within the areas defined as falling within the alliance. The group supplies competitive products and services to banks and...

. In 2006 it had a market share of 1.92 % on Oslo Stock Exchange

Oslo Stock Exchange

The Oslo Stock Exchange serves as the main market for trading in the shares of Norwegian companies. It opens at 9:00am and closes 5:30pm local time...

, rating it as the 21st largest of 49 security companies in Norway. The company was a subsidiary of Terra Markets

Terra Markets

Terra Markets AS is an Norwegian investment banking firm in the Terra Group. Terra Markets employs 75 professionals in brokerage, equity research, market making and corporate finance. The equity research team consists of 15 analysts who cover approximately 150 listed companies in Norway...

 that is owned 66.73% by Terra-Gruppen and the rest by the company management.

In 2007 the company was hit by the Terra Securities scandal

Terra Securities scandal

The Terra Securities scandal was a scandal that became public in November 2007. It involved highly speculative investments by eight municipalities of Norway in various hedge funds in the United States bond market. The funds were sold by Terra Securities to the municipalities, while the products...

 that after having misinformed eight municipalities in Norway as to the risk of their investments. On 28 November 2007 the company filed for bankruptcy

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....

 after the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway

Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway

The Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway is a Norwegian government agency responsible for supervision of financial companies within Norway based on law and regulations from Storting, the Norwegian Ministry of Finance and international accounting standards...

had stripped Terra Securities of its brokerage license.