YEREVAN, January 12, /ARKA/. Starting January 12, 2010, nominal coupon bonds issued by Araratbank open joint stock company will be listed and included in the Bbond list of NASDAQ OMX Armenia, NASDAQ OMX Armenia said.

This third issue of the bank's bonds comprises 25,000 bonds with nominal value AMD 10,000, maturity 18 months and annual yield of 10%. The issue will be traded under ARBKB3 ticker symbol.

Ararat bank has a proven history as an issuer with securities traded on the stock exchange: the second issue of its corporate bonds was included in NASDAQ OMX Armenia's Bbond list and was just redeemed on December 24, 2009, and the stocks of the company are currently admitted to exchange trading under ticker symbol ARBK.

At the end of 2009 September Ararat bank’s overall capital stood at 7.5 billion Drams and its assets were worth 29 billion Drams. Over 74% of its shares are held by Flash gasoline and diesel trading company and 25% by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

NASDAQ OMX Armenia is the new name of the Armenian Stock Exchange ojsc (renamed on January 27, 2009), however, it is also used to refer jointly to the stock exchange and the Central Depository of Armenia (CDA), as the both companies have been members of the NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. since early 2008. NASDAQ OMX Armenia and the CDA are the major securities market infrastructure institutions in Armenia. Since their inception in 2000, both companies had operated as self-regulatory organizations established by member broker companies, up until demutualization in 2007. NASDAQ OMX Armenia is a part of the world's largest exchange company, the NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. -0-