STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Oct. 9, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NASDAQ OMX Nordic, part of The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ), together with EMCF (European Multilateral Clearing Facility), today launched a full central counterparty clearing (CCP) service on the NASDAQ OMX exchanges in Copenhagen, Helsinki and Stockholm.
Beginning today, NASDAQ OMX has introduced mandatory CCP on nine Nordic securities: three Finnish, Swedish and Danish stocks respectively. The introduction of central counterparty clearing in the Nordic equity markets is part of NASDAQ OMX's strategy to increase market liquidity by building an open, competitive CCP model in the Nordics. NASDAQ OMX Nordic and its three CCP partners - EMCF, SIX X-clear and Euro CCP - have further agreed to achieve competitive clearing by January 2010.
Hans-Ole Jochumsen, President of NASDAQ OMX Nordic, said, "The Nordic equity markets have taken a quantum leap from bilateral clearing to central counterparty clearing in record time. In a world's first, we have accomplished this on three markets simultaneously. This is the biggest structural change for the Nordic equity markets since trading became electronic in the early 1990s, and I expect the introduction of CCP to have a similar increasing effect on volumes. The Nordic CCP solution has been designed and implemented in close cooperation with our customers, and I would like to thank them for their commitment and determination to accomplish the fastest CCP implementation in history."
Jan Booij, Chief Executive of EMCF, said, "Today's launch is a major step closer to achieving greater market liquidity and a competitive CCP model for the Nordic region. We are pleased to be extending our reach in this territory and working in close collaboration with NASDAQ OMX."
Central Counterparty Clearing
Central counterparty clearing involves the legal transfer of obligations to a central counterparty, which becomes the buyer to the seller and the seller to the buyer. With the CCP counterparty risk -- or the risk that one party to a trade suffers losses because the other party cannot fulfill its obligations -- is mitigated. Central counterparty clearing also enables netting of trades, which provides significant cost savings from lower margin requirements, fewer settlements, and simpler operations.
About NASDAQ OMX:
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, with over 3,700 listed companies. NASDAQ OMX 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 exchange-traded funds. NASDAQ OMX 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 exchanges in Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Iceland, Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. For more information about NASDAQ OMX, visit http://www.nasdaqomx.com. *Please follow NASDAQ OMX on Facebook and Twitter.
About European Multilateral Clearing Facility:
EMCF provides competitive central counterparty clearing services for the rapidly growing MTF market. Established in March 2007 EMCF provides CCP services for BATS Europe, Chi-X Europe, Nasdaq OMX Europe and QUOTE MFT as well as Nasdaq OMX Nordic. Clearing volumes exceed 1.8 million transactions per day, representing around 26% of total European equity volumes, ranking it Europe's second cash equities CCP. EMCF is the most competitive European CCP, providing tangible savings for the industry. EMCF offers clearing participants a transparent fee schedule, charging only a low fixed fee across markets.
EMCF's main shareholders are Fortis Bank Nederland N.V. and Nasdaq OMX Nordic Group Inc. The activities of EMCF are regulated by the Dutch central bank, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) and the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA).
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.
NDAQG