The PORTAL Alliance to Create Industry-Standard Facility for 144A
Equity Securities
NEW YORK, Nov. 12, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- A group of leading
securities firms and The Nasdaq Stock Market today announced their
intention to form The PORTAL Alliance, an industry standard facility
designed to serve the market for 144A equity securities.
The founding members of The PORTAL Alliance are Bank of America, Bear
Stearns, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan,
Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, NASDAQ, UBS and
Wachovia Securities. The collaboration is subject to the execution of
a definitive agreement and regulatory approvals.
The PORTAL Alliance will work with third-party service providers to
create an open, industry-standard facility for the private offering,
trading, shareholder tracking and settlement of unregistered equity
securities sold to qualified institutional buyers ("QIBs").
The PORTAL Alliance participants will contribute the expertise gained
in connection with the development of their existing 144A platforms
to create an industry standard facility with a uniform set of
procedures for issuers and QIBs to bring greater efficiency and
transparency to the 144A equity marketplace.
"We are excited to be working with this group of leading securities
firms to develop an industry-standard facility to enhance capital
formation and liquidity in 144A equity securities," said Bob
Greifeld, CEO of NASDAQ. "Investors and issuers will benefit from a
unified facility that includes trading, shareholder tracking,
clearance and settlement."
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 the future benefits of the initiatives
described above. 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's control. These factors include, but
are not limited to factors detailed in NASDAQ'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.
NDAQG
CONTACT: NASDAQ
Media contact:
Wayne Lee
+1-301-978-4875
Wayne.D.Lee@Nasdaq.com