NASDAQ OMX expands clearing offering to include Interest Rate Swaps

First swap transactions between the Swedish National Debt Office and SEB cleared Stockholm, June 22, 2010 — NASDAQ OMX (NASDAQ:NDAQ) announces the launch of a pilot project together with SEB and the Swedish National Debt Office (Riksgälden) through which it will offer central counterparty clearing (CCP) of Interest Rate Swaps (IRS). NASDAQ OMX has also initiated a strategic dialogue with all major swap dealers in Sweden, with the aim to build a full scale clearinghouse for IRS in Swedish kronor (SEK). Previously, SEK denominated IRS, a market with an average daily turnover of 30 billion SEK, have been collateralized and settled bilaterally. The first transactions were successfully registered for clearing yesterday. Interest Rate Swaps are typically traded over-the-counter (OTC) with limited pre- and post-trade transparency. As the major derivative instrument traded OTC globally, the aggregated outstanding notional amount was 349 trillion USD at year-end 2009. Interest Rate Swaps have since the financial turmoil in 2008 been subject to proposals by legislators both in the U.S. and Europe to introduce mandatory CCP clearing and to increase pre- and post trade transparency. Swap dealers may therefore soon be obliged to clear IRS through a CCP, a service that is now available by NASDAQ OMX for SEK-denominated swaps. “Through the IRS central counterparty clearing offering, NASDAQ OMX is building a Nordic clearing house that covers all Fixed Income instruments,” says Erik Thedéen, Head of Nordic Fixed Income and President NASDAQ OMX Stockholm. “This service will reduce the administrative burden and, more importantly, bring with it a reduction of counterparty risk for market participants and thereby improve financial stability. The ability to net multiple post-trade transactions through a central counterparty also allows our market participants to reduce collateral significantly.” About Interest Rate Swaps An interest rate swap is a financial instrument under which exchange of cash flows between two parties occurs at future dates. In its most common form, the interest rate swap entails an agreement to at a set date pay a fixed rate in exchange for a floating interest rate that is usually pegged to a reference rate. About NASDAQ OMX The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. is the world's largest exchange company. It delivers trading, exchange technology and public company services across six continents, with more than 3,600 listed companies. NASDAQ OMX offers multiple capital raising solutions to companies around the globe, including its U.S. listings market, NASDAQ OMX Nordic, NASDAQ OMX Baltic, NASDAQ OMX First North, and the U.S. 144A sector. The company offers trading across multiple asset classes including equities, derivatives, debt, commodities, structured products and exchange-traded funds. NASDAQ OMX technology supports the operations of over 70 exchanges, clearing organizations and central securities depositories in more than 50 countries. NASDAQ OMX Nordic and NASDAQ OMX Baltic are not legal entities but describe the common offering from NASDAQ OMX exchanges in Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Iceland, Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. For more information about NASDAQ OMX, visit http://www.nasdaqomx.com. *Please follow NASDAQ OMX on Facebook and Twitter. 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 The NASDAQ Stock Market and NASDAQ OMX Group's other 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 Group's control. These factors include, but are not limited to factors detailed in NASDAQ OMX Group'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. -# - Media Contacts: Anna Rasin +46 8 405 66 12 anna.rasin@nasdaqomx.com NDAQF

In This Story