The Nordic countries ranked high in the world for doing business by the World Bank’s annual Doing Business 2016 report.

Surveying a total of 189 countries, the list is widely considered the most authoritative in the world.

The index takes into account regulations that affect facilitating the smooth flow of business. A total of 10 different areas were assessed, included everything from starting a business, to dealing with construction permits, getting credit, paying taxes, trading across borders and enforcing contracts.

Denmark ranked third, Sweden, Norway and Finland as eight, ninth and tenth. repectively

Singapore once again topped the list this year, followed by New Zealand.

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Stockholm, October 1, 2015 — Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) today announced the launch of First North 25, a new index for the 25 largest and most traded shares on Nasdaq First North and Nasdaq First North Premier. The First North 25 index will be launched and disseminated on October 15, 2015, and is an important part of Nasdaq’s continuous efforts to provide the leading platform for growth companies.

“Supporting small and medium sized enterprises is a part of our Nasdaq DNA”, said Adam Kostyál, Senior Vice President and European Head of Listings. “By launching First North 25, we want to highlight the growing investment opportunities on Nasdaq First North to a broader group of institutional investors, and provide further visibility for companies included in the index.”

Companies included in First North 25 are selected through a two-step process. Firstly, the 30 largest companies measured by market capitalization are selected. The 25 most traded shares within this pool, measured by aggregated trading turnover over a six month period, are selected for the index. The First North 25 portfolio will be reviewed twice a year with new portfolios being effective the first trading day in January and July.

With the First North 25 launch, Nasdaq also introduces four local country indexes for the Nordic markets; First North Sweden, First North Finland, First North Denmark and First North Iceland. The four indices will include shares traded on the respective markets, and are designed to add further visibility for Nasdaq First North in the Nordics.

“Since its launch in 2005, Nasdaq First North has grown significantly and is now home to more than 200 growth companies”, said Adam Kostyál. “Studies show that job creation in small and medium sized companies increase greatly after listing. Providing these companies with visibility and an attractive platform for raising capital is essential for the future growth of our economies.”

First North Sweden, First North Finland, First North Denmark and First North Iceland will be launched and start disseminating on October 15, 2015. For a detailed description of the selection criteria is found here: Read full description

The Global Competitiveness Report 2015-2016 by The World Economic Forum assesses the competitiveness landscape of 140 economies. Switzerland followed by Singapore and the USA topped the list in this year’s study. Finland’s rank was 8th followed by Sweden as 9th. Norway and Denmark were 11th and 12th in overall rankings.

The Global Competitiveness Report is based mainly on assessments and opinions received from business leaders as well as official statistics, even though other studies are also considered in the analysis of the results. This report is often referred to by politicians, decision makers and various experts.

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Grant Thornton, a large international network of independent accounting and consulting firms, just published their annual Global Dynamism Index (GDI) report for 2015 “Going beyond borders: Where to grow your business”. This index combines 22 indicators across five growth areas to rank the business growth environment of the 60 largest economies in the world. Finland shared with Australia the third overall ranking after Singapore and Israel. Sweden ranked as fourth and Norway as 8th. According to Grant Thornton, Finland and Sweden would be the most dynamic economies in Europe from a business perspective. Finland and Sweden ranked high in “Business operating environment” and “Technology”.

In international comparison the strengths of the Nordic countries lies in political and legal stability, a well developed financing environment as well as advanced technology and high R&D spending.

Finland and Sweden should, according to Grant Thornton, offer very good opportunities for you to grow your business.

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Download our Corporate Fact Sheets today, for free. You will get a PDF document which is easy to read with an overview of how to establish in Sweden, Finland or Norway. Choose a country by pressing one of the brochures: Download for free! The Corporate Fact Sheet will help you to compare common business forms in each country and you can also read about tax, VAT rate, accounting period, name restrictions and foreign exchange controls etc.

Expand your business to Scandinavia, we will help you on the way. Contact us today!