NEW YORK, Oct. 13, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC and The Korea Exchange, Inc. (KRX) today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation. The signing ceremony will take place in New York at NASDAQ's corporate headquarters in downtown Manhattan.
NASDAQ and KRX have established a cooperative arrangement that will provide an ongoing exchange of information between the two markets. This will be for the benefit of the U.S. and Korean financial services industries. The cooperation will help to assist in the maintenance of orderly markets in securities in each country.
Bob Greifeld, President and CEO of The NASDAQ Stock Market, said, "NASDAQ welcomes this new partnership with KRX and looks forward to working with the Exchange as the Korean capital markets evolve. In addition to being home to some of the world's best known brands, South Korea is one of the largest and fastest growing economies in Asia. NASDAQ is proud to be working closely with the Korea Exchange as it becomes increasingly global."
Young-Tak Lee, Chairman and CEO of the KRX, said, "KRX is pleased to have agreed to cooperate and communicate with NASDAQ in a more formal way. We highly value the relationship with NASDAQ, which is the one of the leading stock markets in the world. I hope we look for various channels of collaboration such as joint research and joint marketing so that we grow together."
NASDAQ currently lists 7 Korean companies, and these companies' combined global market capitalization is approximately US$3.19 billion. The companies are:
Nasdaq:HANA Hanarotelecom Incorporated Nasdaq:GMKT Gmarket Inc. Nasdaq:WZEN Webzen Inc. Nasdaq:WTHN WiderThan Co. Ltd. Nasdaq:GRVY Gravity Co. Ltd. Nasdaq:MRAE Mirae Corporation Nasdaq:PXPL Pixelplus Co. Ltd.
NASDAQ is the largest U.S. electronic stock market. With approximately 3,200 companies, it lists more companies and, on average, trades more shares per day than any other U.S. market. It is home to companies that are leaders across all areas of business including technology, retail, communications, financial services, transportation, media and biotechnology. NASDAQ is the primary market for trading NASDAQ-listed stocks. For more information about NASDAQ, visit the NASDAQ Web site at http://www.nasdaq.com or the NASDAQ Newsroom at http://www.nasdaq.com/newsroom/.
Korea Exchange (KRX), established in January 2005, through the merger of Korea Stock Exchange, Korea Futures Exchange and KOSDAQ Market, is the sole exchange in the Republic of Korea. The KRX operates the centralized securities and derivatives markets where stocks, bonds and derivatives are traded on a common platform as well as clears and settles all transactions as one-stop service. As of October, its stock market capitalization reaches about KRW 742 trillion (US$786 billion) with more than 1,600 listed companies. Namely, KOSPI 200 options is the No. 1 in global volume of index options product with over 10 million contracts of average daily volume. For more information about KRX, visit the KRX Web site at http://www.krx.co.kr.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The matters described herein may contain forward-looking statements that are made under the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may include, but are not limited to, statements about the nature and timing of the proposed cooperation between Nasdaq and Jasdaq. 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.