Shadowing Practice: The Plan for a Unified Nordic Stock Exchange Explained - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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In late January, which now feels like a lifetime ago, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain came together to create the E6,
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a new European grouping that aims to forge ahead with projects of integration to improve the EU's competitiveness and sovereignty.
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In the readout after their inaugural meeting, the E6 announced that their first priority, apparently ahead of both internationalising the euro and coordinating defence spending,
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was, quote, pressing ahead with the Capital Markets Union.
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Since then, nothing much has really happened for the E6's capital markets union, sometimes known as the savings and investment union.
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However, another, perhaps more aligned group has emerged in the Nordics.
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A consortium of large Nordic companies and investors, unified under the industry alliance Nordic Compass, are investigating the possibility of combining the Finnish,
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Swedish, Danish and Norwegian stock exchanges into one pan -Nordic stock exchange.
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It has the potential to unlock a capital pool deep enough
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to perhaps entice founders to go public in the Nordics rather than list in the US.
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In this video, we'll explain why the Nordics are considering unifying their stock exchanges
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and what it could mean for the wider European project of a capital markets union.
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So far, Trump's return to office has spelled disaster for the European economy.
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But the union's got a plan to diversify its trade portfolio, and we've got a breakdown of how it's going to do
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it in the latest edition of our magazine too long that's
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just one of the articles in our longest issue ever subscribe
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to get your copy by clicking the link in the description
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so probably the best way to understand what the capital markets
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union actually is is to first imagine you're an entrepreneur in europe you've got an idea for a business
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but now you need some financing to actually get it off
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the ground the obvious place to go is probably a bank
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but banks don't generally like lending to small businesses because they're considered systematically important.
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In other words, if the banks go bust, they take the rest of the economy down with them, which means governments subject them to lots of regulation that essentially discourages risky loans.
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So if the bank says no, your next move is to try what are known as the capital markets.
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In other words, go find some non -bank institution or investor to lend you the money.
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Broadly speaking, there are two options here.
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There's the private market and then there's the public market.
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When we talk about the private market, we're basically talking about venture capital investors or other private investment firms who'll lend you the money.
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When we talk about the public markets, we're basically talking about listing your company and selling shares in it on a publicly traded stock exchange,
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although we should say that listing or going public usually happens later down the line, once your company has some brand recognition or a proven track record,
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and typically after raising money from those aforementioned private investors.
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There are over 30 different stock exchanges in the EU, meaning more than one per member state, with the vast majority being small, national or even regional stock exchanges.
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Most of these are, to be frank, pretty much redundant.
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You can't raise large amounts of money, and many of them haven't seen a new listing for years, because companies have essentially decided they're either better off going public elsewhere,
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like in the US, or just sticking with private markets and avoiding the bureaucratically burdensome process of going public altogether.
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These fragmented markets have led to a flight of high -profile companies from Europe to New York's two major exchanges.
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In 2025, for instance, European IPO value fell by 20 % and proceeds dropped 10 % alongside it,
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while US IPOs have surged in the wake of the AI boom.
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On average, US valuations exceeded European ones by over 30%.
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For entrepreneurs then, listing in the US is a no -brainer, though it should be noted there are tentative signs that the trend is turning in 2026.
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Although the Nordics have a thriving startup ecosystem, particularly within tech, they suffer the same growth capital issues as the rest of Europe.
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For example, companies such as Klarna and Spotify are all listed in the US, despite operating and being headquartered in the Nordics.
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According to one study, only slightly more than half, 57%, of Swedish unicorn founders chose to build their companies in their home country,
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with the same being true for 47 % of Norwegian founders and 32 % of Danish and Finnish founders.
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Many of the remainder go to the US to take advantage of its famously deep capital markets.
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This is where Nordic Compass comes in.
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Formed in May, it's an industry alliance aiming to develop proposals to solve growth financing and build support among businesses, with some heavyweights such as the Wallenberg Foundation,
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Saab, Nokia, Novo Nordisk, Nordia and many more as members.
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Ahead of its first meeting in Gothenburg in November, the alliance is rumoured to be putting forward a formal proposal to merge the four stock exchanges.
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The Nordic countries are small, populated by roughly 28 million people across the four of them,
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but Nordic investors and pension funds manage close to 4 trillion euros and take in more than 150 billion euros a year.
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The hope then is that pooling these resources together would convince more firms to list their companies on a Nordic exchange.
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There are some reasons to believe this would be helpful.
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Some companies that are too big for any of the European stock exchanges, but too small to compete on the New York exchange, end up instead being acquired by larger US companies.
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For example, PayPal bought iZettle, Visa bought Tink, and Workday bought Sana.
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Had there been a viable alternative capital pool with less competition yet more money, they may have chosen an IPO in their home market rather than an acquisition.
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In Europe, more broadly, liquidity fragmentation is cited as a key challenge by asset managers.
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It would also mean a stronger global position, potentially even attracting foreign firms to list in the Nordics.
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However, there are a few roadblocks.
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First of all, Nordic Compass is an industrial alliance, not an institution.
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Whatever they may present in November is a proposal which would require political will from all four countries to come to fruition.
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A unification is not just one simple reform, it includes harmonising everything from bankruptcy proceedings to corporate governance law and market abuse regulations.
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Furthermore, centralising may harm smaller markets and the firms that service them.
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There's a fear that activity may naturally gravitate towards the bigger, more liquid venue, which is Stockholm in this case, and may then leave smaller markets such as Helsinki thinner.
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This is not to mention the fight that would likely ensue over the placement of the exchange, which may revive some bitter feelings between the four.
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There's also the issue of ownership and governance.
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Nasdaq owns and operates the Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki stock exchanges, while Euronext operates Oslo.
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This raises some awkward questions.
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Who controls strategy, technology and fee structures?
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How are revenues and costs split between national entities.
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Euronext has signalled openness to the idea, but in practice a deal will have to be agreed between the operators.
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Nordic Compass has stated that work is still preliminary, so whether the conference in November brings a firm proposal or just further analysis remains to be seen.
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The notion that the political establishments in each country, with their fragmented politics and different priorities,
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have either the will or the power to actually enact this idea seems even more remote.
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However, it is an important signal when major actors across financial institutions, from massive foundations to banks to multinational companies,
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all gather under the banner of one idea.
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Whatever the result, should the Nordics come to an agreement and successfully unify the capital markets, it will provide an interesting lesson to the E6 and Europe as a whole.
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I've already told you about one of the articles in the next issue of too long.
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But there's so much more inside you're going to want to discover.
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So if you subscribe using code SUMMER26, you'll not only get 20 % off every issue as a subscriber,
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you'll also get an additional £3 off your first issue, bringing the cost as low as £4 .99 for a digital edition.
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And yes, if shipping, or increasingly tariffs, are making deliveries to wherever you live a little too expensive, you can get a digital version sent straight to your inbox
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plus we actually earn more from digital editions as we actually lose money on shipping
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so it's also a better way to support the channel this
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is a good first issue to jump on board with too it's our longest ever 84 pages
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and it contains stories from all across the world including burnham here in britain the wars in ukraine
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and iran china and the us's relationship a bit from the vatican
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and of course the cover story on the plan to rebuild europe it also contains articles from our superb new writers, Natasha, Isaac, and Ebba.
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So make sure to use code SUMMER26 at checkout and become a Too Long subscriber today.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “The Plan for a Unified Nordic Stock Exchange Explained”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Nordic, exchange, capital, stock, companies. This video has 89 sentences and 1533 words to shadow. The speech runs for 8:50. The speaker talks at a natural 174 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 79% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| investor noun | /ɪnˈvɛs.tə(ɹ)/ | A person who invests money in order to make a profit. |
| proposal noun | /pɹəˈpoʊzəl/ | A scheme or design. |
| founder noun | /ˈfaʊ̯n.dəː/ | One who founds or establishes (a company, project, organisation, state, etc.). |
| alliance noun | /əˈlaɪ.əns/ | The state of being allied. |
| lend verb | /ˈlɛnd/ | To allow to be used by someone temporarily, on condition that it or its equivalent will be returned. |
| essentially adverb | /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/ | In essence: by nature. |
| institution noun | /ˌɪn.stɪˈtʃuː.ʃən/ | A long-established organization or type of organization, particularly one involved with education, public service, or charity work. |
| priority noun | /pɹaɪˈɒɹɪti/ | An item's relative importance. |
| euro noun | /ˈjʊɹoʊ/ | The currency unit of the European Monetary Union. Symbol: € |
| governance noun | /ˈɡʌvəɹnəns/ | The process, or the power, of governing; government or administration. |
| subscribe verb | /səbˈskɹaɪb/ | To write (one’s name) at the bottom of a document; to sign (one's name). |
| entrepreneur noun | /ˌɑn.tɹə.pɹəˈnɝ/ | A person who sets up a business; generally, a person who owns and manages a business and assumes its financial risks. |
| broadly adverb | /ˈbɹɔːdli/ | Widely and openly. |
| fragment noun | /ˈfɹæɡmənt/ | A part broken off; a small, detached portion; an imperfect part, either physically or not. |
| subscriber noun | /səbˈskɹaɪbɚ/ | A person who subscribes to a publication or a service. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. |
| get off verb | To move from being on top of (something) to not being on top of it. |
| put forward verb | To propose for consideration. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has really happened · has emerged · has spelled |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | are known · should be noted · being headquartered |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | them, which means · venue, which is |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 16 contractions and reduced forms, such as they're, we're, you'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thin /ˈθɪn/, gather /ˈɡæðɚ/, furthermore /ˈfɜː(ɹ).ðə(ɹ)ˌmɔː(ɹ)/, altogether /ɔl.tuˈɡɛð.ɚ/, thrive /θɹajv/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, institution /ˌɪn.stɪˈtʃuː.ʃən/, recognition /ˌɹɛkəɡˈnɪʃ(ə)n/, establishment /ɪˈstæb.lɪʃ.mənt/, ownership /ˈoʊnɚʃɪp/
- Long words — get the stress right: essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, institution /ˌɪn.stɪˈtʃuː.ʃən/, priority /pɹaɪˈɒɹɪti/, entrepreneur /ˌɑn.tɹə.pɹəˈnɝ/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like investor, proposal, founder.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.