NASDAQ OMX chooses Fortis subsidiary EMCF for clearing services
NASDAQ OMX appoints EMCF to handle its clearing for the Pan-European
Market
The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. today announced that it has selected the
European Multilateral Clearing Facility (EMCF), a wholly-owned
Fortis subsidiary, to deliver clearing services for the NASDAQ OMX
Pan-European Market.
"Our relationship with EMCF is an important step in our plan to
leverage the growth opportunities before us in this post-MiFID
environment. It will enable us to offer not only faster and better
executions, but a highly reliable, seamless post-trade experience,"
commented Chris Concannon, Executive Vice President of Transactions
Services, NASDAQ OMX.
Jan Booij, Managing Director of EMCF said: "Since the European
Multilateral Clearing Facility was launched in 2007, we have shown a
strong determination to substantially grow the clearing businesses.
The collaboration with the NASDAQ OMX Group is further evidence of
our winning strategy, which is based on the simple principles of
reliability, price competition and quality of service. Servicing the
NASDAQ OMX Pan-European Market will bring the benefits of netted
settlements and margins based on netted positions to our customers
active on multiple trading venues."
Settlement will be handled domestically on the Pan-European Market,
i.e. all trades will settle in the underlying domestic settlement
system and accordingly will have settlement fungibility with trades
on the primary market.
The NASDAQ OMX Pan-European Market will enable best execution in high
volume securities trading in a cross-border, multi-market
environment. The market, which will be the first platform to connect
European liquidity pools with Pan-European routing, is scheduled to
open in September 2008. At launch it will trade approximately 300 of
the most actively traded European blue chip shares. The NASDAQ OMX
trading platform is recognised as the fastest in the industry with
peak trading speeds of 250 microseconds. The launch of the NASDAQ OMX
Pan-European Market is subject to FSA approval.
Fortis is an international financial services provider engaged in
banking and insurance. We offer our personal, business and
institutional customers a comprehensive package of products and
services through our own channels, in collaboration with
intermediaries and through other distribution partners. With a market
capitalisation of EUR 38.5 billion (30/04/2008), Fortis ranks among
the 20 largest financial institutions in Europe. Our sound solvency
position, our presence in over 50 countries and our dedicated,
professional workforce of 65,000 enable us to combine global strength
with local flexibility and provide our clients with optimum support.
More information is available at www.fortis.com.
EMCF, a wholly-owned Fortis subsidiary, is an independent central
counterparty clearing house and offers central counterparty services
for equity trading on exchanges and multilateral trading facilities.
EMCF is regulated by the AFM and the Dutch Central Bank.
The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. is the world's largest exchange company.
It delivers trading, exchange technology and public company services
across six continents, and with over 3,900 companies, it is number
one in worldwide listings among major markets. NASDAQ OMX offers
multiple capital raising solutions to companies around the globe,
including its U.S. listings market; the OMX Nordic Exchange,
including First North; and the 144A PORTAL Market. The company
offers trading across multiple asset classes including equities,
derivatives, debt, commodities, structured products and ETFs. NASDAQ
OMX technology supports the operations of over 60 exchanges, clearing
organizations and central securities depositories in more than 50
countries. OMX Nordic Exchange is not a legal entity but describes
the common offering from Nasdaq OMX exchanges in Helsinki,
Copenhagen, Stockholm, Iceland, Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. For more
information about NASDAQ OMX, visit www.nasdaqomx.com.
Press Contacts:
Brussels: +32 (0)2 565 35 84 Utrecht: +31 (0)30 226 32 19
Investor Relations:
Brussels: +32 (0)2 565 53 78 Utrecht: +31 (0)30 226 65 66
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. There can be no
assurance that the FSA will give the NASDAQ OMX applicant the
authorization and permissions which it seeks.
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