1. In many ways, wider Europe is .......... in the Nordic region, which is characterized by similarities in language, law and history but has different cultures and currencies.

2. The Nordics wanted to create a single regional capital market, but some of its exchanges and post-trading infrastructure providers remained .......... independent or joined forces with partners outside the region.

3. In today's globalized age, issuers and investors both want and need deep, liquid markets operating at the lowest possible cost in the most risk-.......... and efficient fashion.

4. Sharing access, expertise, operability, and international mergers and alliances are all becoming realities, but in any kind of innovative cooperation, there are .......... to be glitches in delivering tangible benefits.

5. For instance, in Sweden last year, there were .......... to the reputation of the Stockholm Exchange when it took a hammering for technical problems that closed it for most of the business day.

6. However, such cases are really only minor .......... in what is proving already to be a fruitful combination.

7. The decision to sell NCSD, which .......... the central security depositories for Sweden and Finland, is a fine opportunity for participants in these two markets to reach more foreign trading parties and lower international transaction expenses.

8. Without such .......... of market practices and consolidation of infrastructure, financial professionals can expect only greater complexities and costs in the future as globalization continues.

9. And during .......... times, cost containment becomes ever more relevant, as we have all come to learn.

10. Euroclear has been contributing to process standardization in EU capital markets, and it is also working on .......... the multiple-transaction processing platforms which it runs onto one single platform.