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These excerpts taken from the NDAQ 8-K filed Aug 1, 2008. ORGANIZATION AND OPERATION The Groups financial operations and financial risk management are centered around OMXs internal bank, OMX Treasury. The goal of OMX Treasury is, within given risk limitations, to manage the Groups financial risk exposure, to optimize net financial income and generate value for business operations through financial services. Significant economies of scale, lower financial costs and better oversight and management of the Groups financial risks are achieved through centralized financial operations. Operations are conducted according to a Finance Policy, which forms the framework and specifies guidelines and limitations. The Finance Policy is determined by OMX ABs Board of Directors and revised continuously. The Policy deals with the following risks:
(i) Organization and Operation The Groups financial operations and financial risk management are centered around OMXs internal bank, OMX Treasury. The goal of OMX Treasury is, within given risk limitations, to manage the Groups financial risk exposure, to optimize net financial income and generate value for business operations through financial services. Significant economies of scale, lower financial costs and better oversight and management of the Groups financial risks are achieved through centralized financial operations. Operations are conducted according to a Financial Policy, which forms the framework and specifies guidelines and limitations. The Financial Policy is determined by OMX ABs Board of Directors and revised continuously. The Policy deals with the following risks:
(a) Currency risks A significant portion of the Groups sales are attributable to operations outside Sweden, which means that changes in currency exchange rates have an impact on the Groups income statement and balance sheet. Currency risk exposure occurs during the sale and purchase of foreign currencies (transaction exposure) and during the translation of foreign subsidiaries balance sheets and income statements to SEK (translation exposure). In accordance with the Groups Financial Policy, 100% of contracted flows and 0100% of forecast flows up to 12 months shall be hedged. Deviations from the prescribed hedge levels can occur within specified guidelines. Hedging of transaction exposure is carried out through currency forwards and options or loans in foreign currencies. Currency forwards that hedge contracted flows fulfill the conditions for hedge accounting. These forwards have been defined as hedging of fair value and are reported in the income statement together with changes in fair value of the asset which gave rise to the hedged risk, see the Hedge relations table. The forward contracts that hedge forecasted flows fulfill the requirements for hedge accounting. These forward contracts have been defined as cash-flow hedging. Changes in fair value of these hedges are reported directly against shareholders equity, while the portion of the hedge that is not effective is reported directly in the income statement. Transaction exposure originating from financial cash flows is eliminated by the subsidiaries raising borrowings and making investments in local currency or by hedging these flows by using currency forwards. Translation exposure occurs in conjunction the translation of OMXs foreign subsidiaries balance sheets and income statements and in the recalculation of consolidated goodwill relating to foreign subsidiaries into SEK. In accordance with the Financial Policy, portions of the translation exposure are hedged in order to reduce the volatility of OMXs financial key ratios (see table below in (C)(iii): Translation exposure). (b) Interest-rate risks The Group is exposed to interest-rate risks that can impact the Groups earnings due to changing market rates. Both the Groups interest-bearing assets, consisting primarily of regulatory capital for counterparty risks within the exchange and clearing operations, and interest-bearing liabilities are exposed to interest-rate risks. The speed with which a permanent change in interest rates can impact the Groups net financial income depends on the fixed-interest terms of investments and loans.
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Fixed-interest terms for the Group liabilities are short as stipulated in the Financial Policy. According to the Financial Policy, interest swaps and standardized interest futures are used to change the length of fixed-interest terms, thereby minimizing interest-rate risk. According to OMXs Financial Policy, the average fixed-interest term for regulatory capital for exchange and clearing operations is a maximum of three years. As a rule, other surplus liquidity is placed in investments with short fixed-interest terms. At year-end, net financial debt amounted to SEK 847 million (net debt: SEK 572 million, net asset: SEK 155 million). Financial assets as per December 31, 2006 amounted to SEK 950 million (1,334, 1,517) and the average effective rate of interest for these assets was 3.70%, while the fixed-interest term was approximately 1.2 years. Interest-bearing securities that are retained are booked at fair value. At year-end, interest-bearing financial liabilities amounted to SEK 1,797 million (1,906, 1,362), of which SEK 1,350 million (1,400, 700) are long-term (see table: Interest-bearing assets and liabilities). During the year, the average fixed-interest term for liabilities varied between two and four months. As per December 31, the fixed-interest term for borrowings was three months and the effective rate was 3.33%. The interest-bearing financial liabilities are not booked at fair value since the liabilities are to be held until maturity. The exceptions are bonds which have been hedged by using fixed-income derivatives. These fixed-income derivatives are defined as hedging of fair value and fulfill the requirements for hedge accounting. The fixed income derivative agreements are reported in the income statement together with changes in fair value of the asset or liability that gave rise to the hedged risk (see table below in (C)(iv): Hedge relations). In the event of a parallel shift in the Swedish and foreign yield curves upward by one percentage point, the Groups earnings would be negatively affected in an amount of SEK 23 million on an annualized basis, given the nominal amount and the fixed-interest terms prevailing on December 31, 2006. (c) Financing risks Financing risk refers to the risk that costs will be higher and financing possibilities limited when a loan is to be refinanced, and that it will not be possible to fulfill payment obligations due to insufficient liquidity or difficulties in obtaining financing. The Financial Policy specifies that unutilized credit facilities of sufficient size must exist to guarantee access to adequate funds. Financing risk is also dealt with by endeavoring to find a suitable balance between short and long-term financing and a diversification between various forms of financing and markets. OMXs total granted credit facilities as per December 31, 2006 amounted to SEK 3,741 million (3,033, 3,067), of which SEK 30 million (0, 14) has been utilized (see table below in (E): Credit facilities). Of OMXs credit facilities, SEK 2,100 million is a syndicated credit facility with a three-year term. One portion, SEK 1,500 million, is linked to the companys commercial paper program for the same amount and, if OMX is unable to issue the commercial papers, entitles the company to borrow capital in the amount of SEK 1,500 million. There is also a credit facility for approximately a year of SEK 1,200 million which is dedicated to liquidity requirements linked to the Stockholm Stock Exchanges clearing operations. Financial conditions linked to these credit facilities will be applied if OMX receives a credit rating from Standard & Poors of BBB or below. OMXs rating with Standard & Poors remained unchanged during the year (with a long-term counterparty rating of A with a stable outlook, a short-term counterparty rating of A-1, and a rating of K1 on the Nordic scale). During the year, a two-year bond of SEK 300 million was repaid and an eight-year bond of SEK 250 million was issued. This has resulted in the expansion and diversification of the Groups total maturity structure of its liability portfolio. The average term of liabilities as per December 31, 2006 was 3.4 years (3.1). There are five bond loans totaling SEK 1,350 million (see table: Interest-bearing assets and liabilities).
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(d) Credit and counterparty risks The Groups financial transactions give rise to credit risks towards financial counterparties. Credit risk or counterparty risk refers to the risk of loss if the counterparty does not fulfill its obligations. There are credit risks when investing in cash equivalents. In accordance with the Financial Policy, in the interest of limiting risk exposure, only investments in highly creditworthy securities with high liquidity are permitted. A majority of the Groups outstanding investments at year-end were in securities issued by the Swedish Government. The Group has no significant concentration of credit exposure to any other individual counterparty. The derivative instruments that OMX uses involve a counterparty risk, that is, that the counterparty will not fulfill its portion of the agreement relating to futures or options. In order to limit counterparty risk, only counterparties with a high degree of creditworthiness according to the adopted Financial Policy are accepted. OMX also uses an ISDA agreement to minimize counterparty risk. The total counterparty risk related to financial transactions amounted to SEK 409 million as per December 31, 2006, including bank balances but excluding counterparty risk attributable to the Stockholm Stock Exchanges clearing operations (see below) and collateral funds invested in Swedish Government securities. The largest exposure to an individual institution amounted to SEK 97 million. No single OMX customer was responsible for more than 20% of invoicing as of December 31, 2006. Counterparty risk arises by the Stockholm Stock Exchange providing clearing services and thereby acts as the central counterparty in all contracts subject to counterparty clearing. For the purpose of minimizing this counterparty risk, the Stockholm Stock Exchange requires that the counterparties pledge collateral to guarantee fulfillment of their commitments to the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Pledged collateral amounts to SEK 15,458 million (11,533, 10,245) (see Note 29 Collateral received by OMXs exchange operations). None of the members of the Stockholm Stock Exchange accounted for more than 15% of the total exposure on December 31, 2006. These excerpts taken from the NDAQ 8-K filed May 2, 2008. ORGANIZATION AND OPERATION The Groups financial operations and financial risk management are centered around OMXs internal bank, OMX Treasury. The goal of OMX Treasury is, within given risk limitations, to manage the Groups financial risk exposure, to optimize net financial income and generate value for business operations through financial services. Significant economies of scale, lower financial costs and better oversight and management of the Groups financial risks are achieved through centralized financial operations. Operations are conducted according to a Finance Policy, which forms the framework and specifies guidelines and limitations. The Finance Policy is determined by OMX ABs Board of Directors and revised continuously. The Policy deals with the following risks:
(i) Organization and Operation The Groups financial operations and financial risk management are centered around OMXs internal bank, OMX Treasury. The goal of OMX Treasury is, within given risk limitations, to manage the Groups financial risk exposure, to optimize net financial income and generate value for business operations through financial services. Significant economies of scale, lower financial costs and better oversight and management of the Groups financial risks are achieved through centralized financial operations. Operations are conducted according to a Financial Policy, which forms the framework and specifies guidelines and limitations. The Financial Policy is determined by OMX ABs Board of Directors and revised continuously. The Policy deals with the following risks:
(a) Currency risks A significant portion of the Groups sales are attributable to operations outside Sweden, which means that changes in currency exchange rates have an impact on the Groups income statement and balance sheet. Currency risk exposure occurs during the sale and purchase of foreign currencies (transaction exposure) and during the translation of foreign subsidiaries balance sheets and income statements to SEK (translation exposure). In accordance with the Groups Financial Policy, 100% of contracted flows and 0100% of forecast flows up to 12 months shall be hedged. Deviations from the prescribed hedge levels can occur within specified guidelines. Hedging of transaction exposure is carried out through currency forwards and options or loans in foreign currencies. Currency forwards that hedge contracted flows fulfill the conditions for hedge accounting. These forwards have been defined as hedging of fair value and are reported in the income statement together with changes in fair value of the asset which gave rise to the hedged risk, see the Hedge relations table. The forward contracts that hedge forecasted flows fulfill the requirements for hedge accounting. These forward contracts have been defined as cash-flow hedging. Changes in fair value of these hedges are reported directly against shareholders equity, while the portion of the hedge that is not effective is reported directly in the income statement. Transaction exposure originating from financial cash flows is eliminated by the subsidiaries raising borrowings and making investments in local currency or by hedging these flows by using currency forwards. Translation exposure occurs in conjunction the translation of OMXs foreign subsidiaries balance sheets and income statements and in the recalculation of consolidated goodwill relating to foreign subsidiaries into SEK. In accordance with the Financial Policy, portions of the translation exposure are hedged in order to reduce the volatility of OMXs financial key ratios (see table below in (C)(iii): Translation exposure). (b) Interest-rate risks The Group is exposed to interest-rate risks that can impact the Groups earnings due to changing market rates. Both the Groups interest-bearing assets, consisting primarily of regulatory capital for counterparty risks within the exchange and clearing operations, and interest-bearing liabilities are exposed to interest-rate risks. The speed with which a permanent change in interest rates can impact the Groups net financial income depends on the fixed-interest terms of investments and loans.
15
Fixed-interest terms for the Group liabilities are short as stipulated in the Financial Policy. According to the Financial Policy, interest swaps and standardized interest futures are used to change the length of fixed-interest terms, thereby minimizing interest-rate risk. According to OMXs Financial Policy, the average fixed-interest term for regulatory capital for exchange and clearing operations is a maximum of three years. As a rule, other surplus liquidity is placed in investments with short fixed-interest terms. At year-end, net financial debt amounted to SEK 847 million (net debt: SEK 572 million, net asset: SEK 155 million). Financial assets as per December 31, 2006 amounted to SEK 950 million (1,334, 1,517) and the average effective rate of interest for these assets was 3.70%, while the fixed-interest term was approximately 1.2 years. Interest-bearing securities that are retained are booked at fair value. At year-end, interest-bearing financial liabilities amounted to SEK 1,797 million (1,906, 1,362), of which SEK 1,350 million (1,400, 700) are long-term (see table: Interest-bearing assets and liabilities). During the year, the average fixed-interest term for liabilities varied between two and four months. As per December 31, the fixed-interest term for borrowings was three months and the effective rate was 3.33%. The interest-bearing financial liabilities are not booked at fair value since the liabilities are to be held until maturity. The exceptions are bonds which have been hedged by using fixed-income derivatives. These fixed-income derivatives are defined as hedging of fair value and fulfill the requirements for hedge accounting. The fixed income derivative agreements are reported in the income statement together with changes in fair value of the asset or liability that gave rise to the hedged risk (see table below in (C)(iv): Hedge relations). In the event of a parallel shift in the Swedish and foreign yield curves upward by one percentage point, the Groups earnings would be negatively affected in an amount of SEK 23 million on an annualized basis, given the nominal amount and the fixed-interest terms prevailing on December 31, 2006. (c) Financing risks Financing risk refers to the risk that costs will be higher and financing possibilities limited when a loan is to be refinanced, and that it will not be possible to fulfill payment obligations due to insufficient liquidity or difficulties in obtaining financing. The Financial Policy specifies that unutilized credit facilities of sufficient size must exist to guarantee access to adequate funds. Financing risk is also dealt with by endeavoring to find a suitable balance between short and long-term financing and a diversification between various forms of financing and markets. OMXs total granted credit facilities as per December 31, 2006 amounted to SEK 3,741 million (3,033, 3,067), of which SEK 30 million (0, 14) has been utilized (see table below in (E): Credit facilities). Of OMXs credit facilities, SEK 2,100 million is a syndicated credit facility with a three-year term. One portion, SEK 1,500 million, is linked to the companys commercial paper program for the same amount and, if OMX is unable to issue the commercial papers, entitles the company to borrow capital in the amount of SEK 1,500 million. There is also a credit facility for approximately a year of SEK 1,200 million which is dedicated to liquidity requirements linked to the Stockholm Stock Exchanges clearing operations. Financial conditions linked to these credit facilities will be applied if OMX receives a credit rating from Standard & Poors of BBB or below. OMXs rating with Standard & Poors remained unchanged during the year (with a long-term counterparty rating of A with a stable outlook, a short-term counterparty rating of A-1, and a rating of K1 on the Nordic scale). During the year, a two-year bond of SEK 300 million was repaid and an eight-year bond of SEK 250 million was issued. This has resulted in the expansion and diversification of the Groups total maturity structure of its liability portfolio. The average term of liabilities as per December 31, 2006 was 3.4 years (3.1). There are five bond loans totaling SEK 1,350 million (see table: Interest-bearing assets and liabilities).
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(d) Credit and counterparty risks The Groups financial transactions give rise to credit risks towards financial counterparties. Credit risk or counterparty risk refers to the risk of loss if the counterparty does not fulfill its obligations. There are credit risks when investing in cash equivalents. In accordance with the Financial Policy, in the interest of limiting risk exposure, only investments in highly creditworthy securities with high liquidity are permitted. A majority of the Groups outstanding investments at year-end were in securities issued by the Swedish Government. The Group has no significant concentration of credit exposure to any other individual counterparty. The derivative instruments that OMX uses involve a counterparty risk, that is, that the counterparty will not fulfill its portion of the agreement relating to futures or options. In order to limit counterparty risk, only counterparties with a high degree of creditworthiness according to the adopted Financial Policy are accepted. OMX also uses an ISDA agreement to minimize counterparty risk. The total counterparty risk related to financial transactions amounted to SEK 409 million as per December 31, 2006, including bank balances but excluding counterparty risk attributable to the Stockholm Stock Exchanges clearing operations (see below) and collateral funds invested in Swedish Government securities. The largest exposure to an individual institution amounted to SEK 97 million. No single OMX customer was responsible for more than 20% of invoicing as of December 31, 2006. Counterparty risk arises by the Stockholm Stock Exchange providing clearing services and thereby acts as the central counterparty in all contracts subject to counterparty clearing. For the purpose of minimizing this counterparty risk, the Stockholm Stock Exchange requires that the counterparties pledge collateral to guarantee fulfillment of their commitments to the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Pledged collateral amounts to SEK 15,458 million (11,533, 10,245) (see Note 29 Collateral received by OMXs exchange operations). None of the members of the Stockholm Stock Exchange accounted for more than 15% of the total exposure on December 31, 2006. This excerpt taken from the NDAQ 8-K filed Feb 20, 2008. (i) Organization and operation The Groups financial operations and financial risk management are centered around OMXs internal bank, OMX Treasury. The goal of OMX Treasury is, within given risk limitations, to manage the Groups financial risk exposure, to optimize net financial income and generate value for business operations through financial services. Significant economies of scale, lower financial costs and better oversight and management of the Groups financial risks are achieved through centralized financial operations. Operations are conducted according to a Financial Policy, which forms the framework and specifies guidelines and limitations. The Financial Policy is determined by OMX ABs Board of Directors and revised continuously. The Policy deals with the following risks:
a) Currency risks A significant portion of the Groups sales are attributable to operations outside Sweden, which means that changes in currency exchange rates have an impact on the Groups income statement and balance sheet. Currency risk exposure occurs during the sale and purchase of foreign currencies (transaction exposure) and during the translation of foreign subsidiaries balance sheets and income statements to SEK (translation exposure). In accordance with the Groups Financial Policy, 100% of contracted flows and 0100% of forecast flows up to 12 months shall be hedged. Deviations from the prescribed hedge levels can occur within specified guidelines. Hedging of transaction exposure is carried out through currency forwards and options or loans in foreign currencies. Currency forwards that hedge contracted flows fulfill the conditions for hedge accounting. These forwards have been defined as hedging of fair value and are reported in the income statement together with changes in fair value of the asset which gave rise to the hedged risk, see the Hedge relations table. The forward contracts that hedge forecasted flows fulfill the requirements for hedge accounting. These forward contracts have been defined as cash-flow hedging. Changes in fair value of these hedges are reported directly against shareholders equity, while the portion of the hedge that is not effective is reported directly in the income statement.
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Transaction exposure originating from financial cash flows is eliminated by the subsidiaries raising borrowings and making investments in local currency or by hedging these flows by using currency forwards. Translation exposure occurs in conjunction the translation of OMXs foreign subsidiaries balance sheets and income statements and in the recalculation of consolidated goodwill relating to foreign subsidiaries into SEK. In accordance with the Financial Policy, portions of the translation exposure are hedged in order to reduce the volatility of OMXs financial key ratios (see table below in (C)(iii): Translation exposure). b) Interest-rate risks The Group is exposed to interest-rate risks that can impact the Groups earnings due to changing market rates. Both the Groups interest-bearing assets, consisting primarily of regulatory capital for counterparty risks within the exchange and clearing operations, and interest-bearing liabilities are exposed to interest-rate risks. The speed with which a permanent change in interest rates can impact the Groups net financial income depends on the fixed-interest terms of investments and loans. Fixed-interest terms for the Group liabilities are short as stipulated in the Financial Policy. According to the Financial Policy, interest swaps and standardized interest futures are used to change the length of fixed-interest terms, thereby minimizing interest-rate risk. According to OMXs Financial Policy, the average fixed-interest term for regulatory capital for exchange and clearing operations is a maximum of three years. As a rule, other surplus liquidity is placed in investments with short fixed-interest terms. At year-end, net financial debt amounted to SEK 847 million (net debt: SEK 572 million, net asset: SEK 155 million). Financial assets as per December 31, 2006 amounted to SEK 950 million (1,334, 1,517) and the average effective rate of interest for these assets was 3.70%, while the fixed-interest term was approximately 1.2 years. Interest-bearing securities that are retained are booked at fair value. At year-end, interest-bearing financial liabilities amounted to SEK 1,797 million (1,906, 1,362), of which SEK 1,350 million (1,400, 700) are long term (see table: Interest-bearing assets and liabilities). During the year, the average fixed-interest term for liabilities varied between two and four months. As per December 31, the fixed-interest term for borrowings was three months and the effective rate was 3.33%. The interest-bearing financial liabilities are not booked at fair value since the liabilities are to be held until maturity. The exceptions are bonds which have been hedged by using fixed-income derivatives. These fixed-income derivatives are defined as hedging of fair value and fulfill the requirements for hedge accounting. The fixed income derivative agreements are reported in the income statement together with changes in fair value of the asset or liability that gave rise to the hedged risk (see table below in (C)(iv): Hedge relations). In the event of a parallel shift in the Swedish and foreign yield curves upward by one percentage point, the Groups earnings would be negatively affected in an amount of SEK 23 million on an annualized basis, given the nominal amount and the fixed-interest terms prevailing on December 31, 2006. c) Financing risks Financing risk refers to the risk that costs will be higher and financing possibilities limited when a loan is to be refinanced, and that it will not be possible to fulfill payment obligations due to insufficient liquidity or difficulties in obtaining financing. The Financial Policy specifies that
F-28
unutilized credit facilities of sufficient size must exist to guarantee access to adequate funds. Financing risk is also dealt with by endeavoring to find a suitable balance between short and long-term financing and a diversification between various forms of financing and markets. OMXs total granted credit facilities as per December 31, 2006 amounted to SEK 3,741 million (3,033, 3,067), of which SEK 30 million (0, 14) has been utilized (see table below in (E): Credit facilities). Of OMXs credit facilities, SEK 2,100 million is a syndicated credit facility with a three-year term. One portion, SEK 1,500 million, is linked to the companys commercial paper program for the same amount and, if OMX is unable to issue the commercial papers, entitles the company to borrow capital in the amount of SEK 1,500 million. There is also a credit facility for approximately a year of SEK 1,200 million which is dedicated to liquidity requirements linked to the Stockholm Stock Exchanges clearing operations. Financial conditions linked to these credit facilities will be applied if OMX receives a credit rating from Standard & Poors of BBB or below. OMXs rating with Standard & Poors remained unchanged during the year (with a long-term counterparty rating of A with a stable outlook, a short-term counterparty rating of A-1, and a rating of K1 on the Nordic scale). During the year, a two-year bond of SEK 300 million was repaid and an eight-year bond of SEK 250 million was issued. This has resulted in the expansion and diversification of the Groups total maturity structure of its liability portfolio. The average term of liabilities as per December 31, 2006 was 3.4 years (3.1). There are five bond loans totaling SEK 1,350 million (see table: Interest-bearing assets and liabilities). d) Credit and counterparty risks The Groups financial transactions give rise to credit risks towards financial counterparties. Credit risk or counterparty risk refers to the risk of loss if the counterparty does not fulfill its obligations. There are credit risks when investing in cash equivalents. In accordance with the Financial Policy, in the interest of limiting risk exposure, only investments in highly creditworthy securities with high liquidity are permitted. A majority of the Groups outstanding investments at year-end were in securities issued by the Swedish Government. The Group has no significant concentration of credit exposure to any other individual counterparty. The derivative instruments that OMX uses involve a counterparty risk, that is, that the counterparty will not fulfill its portion of the agreement relating to futures or options. In order to limit counterparty risk, only counterparties with a high degree of creditworthiness according to the adopted Financial Policy are accepted. OMX also uses an ISDA agreement to minimize counterparty risk. The total counterparty risk related to financial transactions amounted to SEK 409 million as per December 31, 2006, including bank balances but excluding counterparty risk attributable to the Stockholm Stock Exchanges clearing operations (see below) and collateral funds invested in Swedish Government securities. The largest exposure to an individual institution amounted to SEK 97 million. No single OMX customer was responsible for more than 20% of invoicing as of December 31, 2006. Counterparty risk arises by the Stockholm Stock Exchange providing clearing services and thereby acts as the central counterparty in all contracts subject to counterparty clearing. For the
F-29
purpose of minimizing this counterparty risk, the Stockholm Stock Exchange requires that the counterparties pledge collateral to guarantee fulfillment of their commitments to the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Pledged collateral amounts to SEK 15,458 million (11,533, 10,245) (see Note 29 Collateral received by OMXs exchange operations). None of the members of the Stockholm Stock Exchange accounted for more than 15% of the total exposure on December 31, 2006. | EXCERPTS ON THIS PAGE:
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