LONDON, Sept. 26, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NASDAQ OMX Europe
commenced trading today just six months after announcing its intent
to launch a multilateral trading facility (MTF). Trading has begun in
25 FTSE 100 stocks and this will be followed by a staggered roll-out
of approximately 600 European securities, to be completed by the end
of October.
Charlotte Crosswell, President of NASDAQ OMX Europe commented, "We
are delighted to deliver our platform on plan within the aggressive
timeframe we established. We are looking forward to delivering a
better trading experience to investors as securities trading moves
towards higher volumes executed at faster speeds. With our unique
order routing capability, not offered by any other MTF, we have the
capability to revolutionise the trading environment in Europe."
In connection to the NASDAQ OMX Europe launch today, the NASDAQ OMX
Europe Index(SM) (symbol:NEUX) is introduced. The NASDAQ OMX Europe
Index will be a market capitalized weighted index designed to track
the companies traded on the NASDAQ OMX Europe marketplace. The Index
will commence calculation with a value of 1500.00 today. The NASDAQ
OMX Europe Index will be calculated in Euros and disseminated every
15 seconds.
NASDAQ OMX Europe customers speaking on behalf of the market:
Naseer Al-Khudairi, Co-Head of Cash Trading at Credit Suisse said,
"We are excited to offer our clients access to NASDAQ OMX Europe and
to be amongst the very first participants to trade on the platform.
By adding NASDAQ OMX Europe as yet another destination to our smart
order router, AES Pathfinder we will be able to deliver further
improvements to our clients' execution performance. Ultimately our
aim is to achieve the best possible execution for our clients through
accessing multiple pools of liquidity in the most intelligent
manner."
Stephen McGoldrick, Director Market Infrastructure at Deutsche Bank
said, "NASDAQ OMX Europe's launch is another welcome step towards a
competitive market for execution services. We wish them well with
this exciting venture and hope their presence contributes to a more
resilient Pan European equity market."
Richard Balarkas, CEO of Instinet Europe Ltd. Said, "Nasdaq OMX's
launch heralds an important new phase of competition amongst Europe's
traditional exchanges and new MTFs, and should provide improved
liquidity and prices to the international trading community. As an
agency broker whose sole mission is to achieve a high-quality trade
execution for our clients, we wish Nasdaq OMX Europe every success."
Lee Cook, Head of Cash Equities EMEA at J.P. Morgan said, "In the
rapidly changing European trading environment, J.P. Morgan
continually monitors liquidity fragmentation and recognises the value
Nasdaq OMX Europe will bring to our clients."
Andrew Silverman, Managing Director and Head of Distribution, Morgan
Stanley Electronic Trading said, "NASDAQ OMX Europe will be an
exciting addition to the European trading landscape, offering access
to an ultra low latency platform and competitively priced liquidity."
Simon Nathanson, CEO of Neonet said, "The ongoing transformation of
European trading landscape gains additional momentum today as NASDAQ
OMX Europe launches. We are proud to offer our clients access to this
new marketplace and the order flows that will follow."
Tim Wildenberg, Head of European Direct Execution Services, UBS said,
"UBS continues to support new and innovative platforms that allow us
to meet the needs of our clients. We see NASDAQ OMX Europe as an
important offering and are delighted to be involved from the
beginning with a platform that we expect to enhance execution quality
for our clients."
ABOUT NASDAQ OMX EUROPE
NASDAQ OMX Europe, is the first platform to connect European
liquidity pools with Pan-European routing. Following the complete
roll-out, NASDAQ OMX Europe will trade approximately 600 securities
including constituents of the main European indices, ETFs and other
highly liquid securities. For more information about NASDAQ OMX
Europe, visit www.nasdaqomxeurope.com.
ABOUT NASDAQ OMX GROUP The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) is
the world's largest exchange company. It delivers trading, exchange
technology and public company services across six continents, and
with over 3,900 companies, it is number one in worldwide listings
among major markets. NASDAQ OMX offers multiple capital raising
solutions to companies around the globe, including its U.S. listings
market; the OMX Nordic Exchange, including First North; and the 144A
PORTAL Market. The company offers trading across multiple asset
classes including equities, derivatives, debt, commodities,
structured products and ETFs. NASDAQ OMX technology supports the
operations of over 60 exchanges, clearing organizations and central
securities depositories in more than 50 countries. OMX Nordic
Exchange is not a legal entity but describes the common offering from
Nasdaq OMX 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.
NDAQG
CONTACT:
The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.
Media Contacts:
Bethany Sherman
(212) 401-8714
bethany.sherman@nasdaqomx.com
Jonas Rodny +46(8)4057267
jonas.rodny@nasdaqomx.com