NASDAQ OMX Futures Exchange Announces Partnership With IKON Global Markets

NEW YORK, Oct. 22, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) announced today that NASDAQ OMX Futures Exchange (NFX), the exchange's U.S. based futures market, has partnered with IKON Global Markets, a leading global Futures Commission Merchant. IKON became the first futures broker to offer client access to NFX's World Currency Futures products (WCF), effective immediately. NFX's WCF products include: the Australian dollar (AD9), British pound (BP9), Canadian dollar (CA9), Colombian Peso (CP9), Euro dollar (EU9), Japanese Yen (JY9), and the Swiss franc (SF9).

As a result of this partnership, customers will be able to utilize the IKON trading application to see live NFX market prices and enter buy/sell orders. NFX offers trading on seven currencies, all of which are retail-sized (approximate notional value is $10,000) and are cash settled in U.S. dollars. WCFs are an exact hedge for World Currency Options (securities options) which trade on NASDAQ OMX PHLX.

"NFX's product development efforts in Dec. 2008 focused mainly on listing new interest-rate swap futures through our partnership with IDCG and since then we have focused on furthering our strategy of leveraging our superior NASDAQ OMX trading technology while bringing new products to market on an efficient futures trading platform," commented Ben Craig, President of NASDAQ OMX Futures Exchange. "Today's announcement with IKON further strengthens our offering of retail FX products in a fully electronic environment. We are delighted to kick-off this collaboration with a global player in the futures industry like IKON," he added.

Diwakar Jagannath, CEO of IKON Global Markets, said, "NASDAQ OMX Futures Exchange has successfully developed and operated the World Currency Options platform with great speed and efficiency and we look forward to collaborating in their success with the World Currency Futures product. We enjoy working with the NFX team to add market depth, liquidity and our capabilities to clients and look forward to our joint efforts to develop new products and bring new participants to the exchange," he added.

NFX is engaged with IKON in collaborative business efforts to deliver broader trading opportunities to the global futures trading community. The NFX, formerly known as the Philadelphia Board of Trade, is a designated contract market under CFTC jurisdiction. It currently lists 10 futures products; including interest rate swap futures, currency futures and sector index futures for trading. Most recently, it began trading Columbian Peso futures.

NASDAQ OMX has a significant presence within the derivatives space globally including the NASDAQ OMX Futures Exchange, Nord Pool ASA, NASDAQ OMX Commodities International Derivatives Clearing Group, an independently operated majority owned NASDAQ OMX company, and its two options markets, The NASDAQ Options Market and NASDAQ OMX PHLX. NASDAQ OMX also has a 20% equity ownership stake in Agora-X.

About IKON Global Markets:

IKON Global Markets, Inc. is a CFTC registered Futures Commission Merchant and Forex Dealer Member in good standing with the National Futures Association (www.nfa.futures.org). IKON has over 5,000 active clients in more than 80 countries, trading over 2 billion notional every day. IKON is an active electronic market maker via its own platforms, as well as on exchanges and ECNs worldwide. Through its vaunted CORE OPTIONS PLATFORM, IKON is the largest market maker of Electronic FX Options to retail investors/traders. For further information, please visit our website (www.ikongm.com) or contact Diwakar Jagannath, CEO/Managing Director (MD@ikongm.com).

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 over 3,700 listed companies. NASDAQ OMX Group 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 ETFs.

NASDAQ OMX Group 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 Group 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 (http://www.facebook.com/pages/NASDAQ-OMX/108167527653) and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/nasdaqomx).

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CONTACT: NASDAQ OMX Group Media Contacts: Silvia Davi 646-441-5014 silvia.davi@nasdaqomx.com Robert Madden 646-441-5045 Robert.madden@nasdaqomx.com Investor Relations: Vincent Palmiere 301-978-5242 vincent.palmiere@nasdaqomx.com

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