STOCKHOLM, Sweden, March 2, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) today announced its intention to expand its trading offering to include equities listed in Norway, beginning with the 25 largest companies listed in Norway. The offering, made possible by MiFID and other regulatory changes, is designed to provide lower trading costs and other benefits for customers seeking to trade all Nordic equities on one platform. NASDAQ OMX will apply the same trading rules and high quality market surveillance to the trading of these new shares as for its other listed shares.
"We undertake this initiative in light of customer demand, which is dramatically changing the competitive landscape for exchanges. We want to extend our trading offering to include shares from all Nordic countries on one trading platform, thereby creating substantial benefits -- such as lower cost of trading -- to our customers. This will increase the attractiveness of the Nordic equity market," says Hans-Ole Jochumsen, President NASDAQ OMX Nordic.
NASDAQ OMX intends to begin offering trading on March 23, 2009. In the first phase, trading will be offered in the 25 largest Norwegian listed shares. In the next phases NASDAQ OMX will extend the trading to the remaining Norwegian listed shares. Trading will take place on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm. A summarized prospectus for each Norwegian share admitted to trading will be published on www.nasdaqomxtrader.com/nordic.
The move is a part of the company's strategic roadmap for Nordic equities, which aims at increasing the attractiveness of the Nordic equity market. The roadmap for Nordic equities consists of:
-- trading in equities from all Nordic countries on one trading
platform
-- introduction of full central counterparty clearing from October
9, 2009, subject to regulatory approval, which will also apply for
Norwegian shares
-- introduction of a new trading platform, INET, on December 7,
2009
ABOUT NASDAQ OMX GROUP
The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. is the world's largest exchange company. It delivers trading, exchange technology and public company services across six continents, with over 3,800 listed companies. NASDAQ OMX Group offers multiple capital raising solutions to companies around the globe, including its U.S. listings market, NASDAQ OMX Nordic, NASDAQ OMX Baltic, NASDAQ OMX First North, and the U.S. 144A sector. The company offers trading across multiple asset classes including equities, derivatives, debt, commodities, structured products and ETFs. NASDAQ OMX Group technology supports the operations of over 70 exchanges, clearing organizations and central securities depositories in more than 50 countries. NASDAQ OMX Nordic and NASDAQ OMX Baltic are not legal entities but describe the common offering from NASDAQ OMX Group exchanges in Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Iceland, Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. For more information about NASDAQ OMX, visit www.nasdaqomx.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The matters described herein contain forward-looking statements that are made under the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about NASDAQ OMX's products and offerings. We caution that these statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or other factors beyond NASDAQ OMX's control. These factors include, but are not limited to factors detailed in NASDAQ OMX's annual report on Form 10-K, and periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to release any revisions to any forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that the FSA will give the NASDAQ OMX applicant the authorization and permissions which it seeks.
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