NASDAQ BUYS STAKE IN EMCF, ANNOUNCES NORDIC MARKET CLEARING AND SYSTEM PLANS

Posted October 16, 2008

NEW YORK – The Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. has announced a new plan for its Nordic Equity Market, including new central counterparty clearing, order routing and trading systems. In addition, Nasdaq OMX is acquiring a 22 percent stake in European Multilateral Clearing Facility N.V. (EMCF) from Fortis Bank Nederland (Holding) N.V.

Nasdaq OMX has chosen EMCF as its new central counterparty (CCP) to provide clearing services, and plans to begin offering optional CCP clearing in January 2009, with full CCP clearing to take effect in June 2009.

“Traders in Europe today face a fragmented post-trade landscape,” says Robert Greifeld, Chief Executive Officer Nasdaq OMX. “Investing in EMCF allows us to provide a cohesive clearing solution to our customers and a cost and risk-efficient clearing model. We are committed to our relationship with EMCF and will work with them to become the leading cash equity central counter-party clearing facility in Europe.”

Nasdaq OMX plans to launch a new equity markets trading platform in the fourth quarter of 2009 based on INET technology, and also plans to develop a new market structure for its Nordic and Baltic markets intended to better comply with the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive. Also by the fourth quarter of 2009, Nasdaq OMX plans to launch order-routing functionality between its Nordic Market and Nasdaq OMX Europe, adding the ability for Nordic Market participants to trade all securities trades on its European market, pending regulatory approval.

“As the operator of the leading market for equity trading in the Nordics, we want to increase market liquidity and further strengthen our ability to compete in the new European trading landscape,” says Hans-Ole Jochumsen, Executive Vice President, Nasdaq OMX. “These important initiatives are designed to drive the development and increase the attractiveness of the Nordic equity market on a variety of fronts. We will deliver important customer benefits including reduced latency and transaction costs, straightforward cross-border trading, and a cost and risk-efficient clearing model.”