CHICAGO, IL and NEW YORK, September 21, 2010 – The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) and GFI Group Inc. (NASDAQ: GFIG) today announced a strategic agreement to offer electronic trading and clearing of continental U.S. power and natural gas. The agreement broadens the clearing options for energy traders in the U.S and expands NASDAQ OMX Commodities’ global presence.
Customers who trade in physical and financial power and natural gas may as a result of this agreement conduct transactions using GFI’s electronic commodities trading platform, EnergyMatch ®, with NASDAQ OMX Commodities Clearing Company serving as the clearing solution. The electronic trading and clearing allows for immediate execution and automatic clearing of trades.
“As pioneers in physical clearing of power and natural gas, we have a proven track record of delivering innovative solutions to our customers,” said President of NASDAQ OMX Commodities Clearing Company George Sladoje. “This agreement combines our respective strengths in electronic trading and physical clearing and delivers seamless transactions, quality and value to our customers.”
NASDAQ OMX is an experienced operator in the energy and commodities space through its ownership of the world’s largest power derivatives exchange, which has been in operation for 15 years. It was also the first exchange in the world to offer a market for carbon emission allowances (EUAs and CERs). Recently, the exchange group launched N2EX, a marketplace for physical UK power contracts, together with Nord Pool Spot AS.
Ron Levi, GFI Group COO said: “We are pleased to add a gold standard in global clearing to our customers trading in North American commodity products. This development represents another meaningful step in bringing greater competition, transparency and efficiency to the OTC commodity markets.”
GFI Group’s hybrid business model combines state-of-the-art electronic trading platforms with highly specialized and experienced brokers that can accommodate any customer demand.
GFI operates a number of electronic trading platforms in addition to EnergyMatch®. These are: EnergyMatch® Europe- etrading platform for numerous commodities in the European markets, CreditMatch®- leading trading platform for fixed income and fixed income derivatives and GFI ForexMatch™- trading of forwards, NDFs and FX options.
About NASDAQ OMX Commodities
NASDAQ OMX Commodities is a brand name and not a legal entity. As part of its Commodities offering the NASDAQ OMX Group owns and operates Nord Pool ASA, a commodity derivatives exchange authorized by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance and supervised by the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority. NASDAQ OMX Stockholm AB and its Norwegian branch NASDAQ OMX Oslo, is an authorized clearing house. N2EX is the brand name, and not a legal entity, for NASDAQ OMX Commodities’ and Nord Pool Spot AS’ offering in the UK power market. NASDAQ OMX Commodities Clearing Company is the US clearing entity. For more information about NASDAQ OMX Commodities Clearing Company visit www.nasdaqomxclear.com
About the NASDAQ OMX Group
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 approximately 3,600 listed companies. NASDAQ OMX Group offers multiple capital raising solutions to companies around the globe, including its U.S. listings market; NASDAQ OMX Nordic, including First North, NASDAQ OMX Baltic 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).
About GFI Group Inc. www.GFIgroup.com
GFI Group Inc. (NASDAQ: GFIG) is a leading provider of wholesale brokerage, electronic execution and trading support products for global financial markets. GFI Group Inc. provides brokerage services, market data, trading platform and analytics software products to institutional clients in markets for a range of fixed income, financial, equity and commodity instruments.
Headquartered in New York, GFI was founded in 1987 and employs more than 1,800 people with additional offices in London, Paris, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, Singapore, Sydney, Cape Town, Santiago, Dubai, Dublin, Tel Aviv, Calgary, Los Angeles, Englewood (NJ) and Sugar Land (TX). GFI Group Inc. provides services and products to over 2,400 institutional clients, including leading investment and commercial banks, corporations, insurance companies and hedge funds. Its brands include GFISM, GFInet®, CreditMatch®, GFI ForexMatch®, EnergyMatch®, FENICS®, Starsupply®, Amerex®, Trayport®, and Kyte®.
For more information, please visit www.nasdaqomx.com and www.gfigroup.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The matters described herein may 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 purchase of the NECC business and about our activities and plans in commodities and in clearing, both in the United States and overseas. 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.
Recent Comments