NASDAQ OMX GROUP PROVIDES PLATFORMS FOR SOUTH AFRICAN AND
COLOMBIAN EXCHANGES
Posted September 4, 2008
STOCKHOLM -- The Nasdaq OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NDAQ) and the Bond
Exchange of South Africa Ltd. (BESA) have signed agreements on the
provision of post trading administrative services and a central
counterparty (CCP) for the derivatives market that BESA plans to
establish.
The agreements include the establishment of BondClear, a South African
entity, which together with Nasdaq OMX will provide derivatives clearing
services for the South African fixed-income derivatives market. Subject
to regulatory and other stakeholder approvals, BondClear will become
operational during early 2009.
The clearing offering will be based on Nasdaq OMX’s operational model
for the OMX Nordic Exchange and will bring international best practice
standards to the South African financial market. With Nasdaq OMX acting
as CCP, BondClear will be able to provide the South African market
participants with a counterpart whose credit rating exceeds what is
currently available in
“The BondClear partnership reaffirms Nasdaq OMX’s business model, where
the combination of technology solutions, our home market operations and
our global customer base creates a unique value offering for BondClear
and the South African financial market,” says Magnus Bocker, President
of Nasdaq OMX.
“BondClear is a key structure for BESA to realize its vision, and
execute our new strategy; additionally it will allow us to bring a new
standard for post-trade services to the South African market,” says
Garth Greubel, Chief Executive Officer of BESA. “The outlined
partnership with Nasdaq OMX will bring proven, world class technology as
well as best practice operational services to the South African market.
Furthermore, we are excited by the partnership’s ability to enable us to
pierce the country’s credit ceiling and tap into the huge, London-based
offshore market for South African instruments.”
In addition, Bolsa de Valores de Colombia (BVC) this week launched a new
market for derivatives based on a Nasdaq OMX trading engine, and will
expand the coverage of this trading platform to encompass cash equities.
“This successful launch is a critical step in enhancing our offer to
both South American and international investor communities,” says Juan
Pablo Córdoba, President BVC. “Implementation of Nasdaq OMX’s trading
engine allows both retail and institutional investors to execute orders
more securely and efficiently. In addition, the system provides
scalability for future volume increases, as well as the flexibility to
quickly introduce new products.”
The system that Nasdaq OMX delivers to BVC offers a high-speed,
low-latency platform, and is designed to support fast introduction of
new trading products and services. It also enables high capacity limits
to meet the needs of algorithmic and high-velocity traders.
“This launch truly symbolizes BVC’s commitment to become a leading
exchange in