FSA APPROVES NASDAQ OMX EUROPE MULTI-LATERAL TRADING FACILITY

Posted September 8, 2008

LONDON – The United Kingdom's Financial Services Authority has granted Nasdaq OMX Europe permission to operate as a multi-lateral trading facility (MTF).

Nasdaq OMX Europe plans to launch trading on September 26 with 25 stocks from the FTSE 100 index, followed by a roll-out of about 600 European securities to be completed by the end of October.

“We are delighted to receive FSA approval only 6 months after announcing Nasdaq OMX Europe,” says Charlotte Croswell, President, Nasdaq OMX Europe. “Our experience of building fast, liquid, transparent, and highly efficient markets is a testament to our ability to be at the forefront of innovation in Europe. We look forward to launching the new platform at the end of September. This has the potential to revolutionize the patterns of trading in Europe with only a single connection.”

Nasdaq OMX Europe has revised its pricing structure ahead of the launch, offering two pricing models -- one for routing orders and one for matching orders. The revised routing pricing will include an all-inclusive fee of 0.65 basis points (bps) to trade on the London Stock Exchange. The pricing for matching orders will follow a “maker/taker” model which will see it provide a rebate of 0.2 bps of the order value for participants who add liquidity on the market by posting sale or purchase orders on the book, and charge 0.3 bps for participants who remove liquidity from the market, or match orders on the book.