Macquarie Oppenheim begins issuing activities

Following the successful acquisition of Sal. Oppenheim’s equity derivatives business, Macquarie Oppenheim has begun issuing securities in Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland. Macquarie Oppenheim combines Sal. Oppenheim’s history of tradition with the financial strength and global reach of Australia’s Macquarie Group.

“The groundwork has been laid. Macquarie Oppenheim has begun its issuing activities,” says Rupertus Rothenhäuser, Managing Director and Head of Sales and Public Distribution Europe at Macquarie Oppenheim.

Beginning immediately, investors in Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland can begin trading in structured investment products and derivatives from Macquarie Oppenheim. “We have started with a selected range of certificates, equity-linked bonds and warrants – however the offering will continue to be expanded,” says Rothenhäuser. “Our clients benefit from the combined strength of two worlds: Sal. Oppenheim’s European equity know-how, which is now under the roof of Macquarie Group, along with the expertise of Macquarie, particularly Asian stocks, commodities and infrastructure investments.”

Macquarie Oppenheim brings together Macquarie’s financial strength and global reach with Sal. Oppenheim’s regional experience and outstanding customer service.

Following the acquisition in December 2009 and finalisation of the deal in April this year, Sal. Oppenheim continued to issue derivative products. Going forward, Sal. Oppenheim will no longer issue new products. Macquarie Structured Products (Europe) GmbH will be issuing all products going forward and enjoys a full guarantee from Macquarie Bank Limited. If any difficulties should occur, the bank will take over any redemptions and payouts during the term of the contracts. The issuing agent and market maker for the new products and the existing Sal. Oppenheim products is Macquarie Capital (Europe) Limited.

Investors in the Sal. Oppenheim products can trade their securities as usual until they reach maturity. However investors should be aware that these will legally remain Sal. Oppenheim bearer bonds, and as such are not included under the above guarantee.

The final Sal. Oppenheim certificates mature in 2011.

“We intend to transition our product range as rapidly as possible,” says Rothenhäuser. “Consequently, we will remove any products with no open interest from the market. Investors in open-end certificates, with no set maturity date, can request an offer for their securities.”

As long as the two issuers are still present in the market, both the Sal. Oppenheim and Macquarie Oppenheim websites and info-hotlines will remain online, operated by Macquarie Oppenheim.