NASDAQ OMX GROUP PLANS PAN-EUROPEAN BLUE-CHIP MULTI-LATERAL TRADING FACILITY

Posted March 19, 2008

LONDON – The Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. plans to open a Nasdaq OMX Pan-European Market in September 2008, a multi-lateral trading facility for trading about 300 of the most actively traded European blue chip stocks, pending approval from the UK regulator, the Financial Services Authority. The new market promises to serve customers seeking a highly liquid trading and routing platform. In related news, on Monday, NYFIX Inc. announced the launch of Euro Millennium, a pan-European equities trading dark liquidity venue. (Click link to read about it).

“European capital markets are facing a competitive transformation similar to changes experienced in US markets in recent years,” says Robert Greifeld, Chief Executive Officer of Nasdaq OMX Group. “We are positioning ourselves to serve our customers in the wake of a regulatory change that will break down monopolistic barriers that have survived in Europe but that will not hold in a post-MiFID environment.”

The Nasdaq OMX Pan-European Market will offer trading in constituents of all leading European indices, including equities listed in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. The new market will handle displayed and non-displayed orders in one composite order book.

“Nasdaq OMX Pan-European Market is an example of how Nasdaq OMX has combined strengths to identify and rapidly leverage important growth opportunities,” says Magnus Böcker, President of Nasdaq OMX. “Issuers, members, information vendors and investors around the world will benefit from this new market as securities trading moves towards higher volumes executed at faster speeds.”