English
Published: 2013-04-11 13:20:08 CEST
Nasdaq Commodities
Exchange and Clearing Information

no 26/13 Merger and introduction of Block Trade Facility for freight derivatives

NASDAQ OMX Commodities (“NASDAQ”) is announcing several changes to the trading and clearing arrangements for freight derivatives resulting from the decision by NASDAQ OMX Stockholm AB (“NASDAQ OMX Stockholm”) to merge NOS Clearing ASA (“NOS”), which it acquired on July 2, 2012, into NASDAQ OMX Stockholm, with NASDAQ OMX Stockholm as the sole surviving entity by the end of 2013. NASDAQ is also announcing the introduction of a new facility for entering into block trades (the “Block Trade Facility”) on 29 April 2013.

The Merger of NOS into NASDAQ OMX Stockholm
NOS is a clearing organization organized under the laws of Norway and has a license from the Norwegian Ministry of Finance to clear certain commodity derivatives, including freight derivatives. NOS is supervised by the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway, Finanstilsynet, the Norwegian financial markets regulator. NASDAQ has considered how best to integrate the freight derivatives cleared by NOS into NASDAQ’s commodity products offering in Europe.

In anticipation of the completion of the merger and the requisite integration of NOS’ clearing operations into NASDAQ OMX Stockholm, NASDAQ has, subject to regulatory approval,  determined to list for trading the freight contracts cleared by NOS.

The freight contracts will continue to be cleared by NOS until NOS is merged into NASDAQ OMX Stockholm. After the merger, the freight contracts will be cleared by NASDAQ OMX Stockholm.

The merger of NOS into NASDAQ OMX Stockholm will take place alongside the separation of trading and clearing activities at NASDAQ OMX Stockholm mandated by the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation (“EMIR”).[1]

Block Trade Facility
The Block Trade Facility permits NASDAQ to designate any of the contracts listed for trading as eligible for block trading (each, a “Block Trade Contract”). Provided certain conditions relating to size, aggregation and price are met, Exchange Members[2] may transact in Block Trade Contracts away from the ETS (each such trade, a “Block Trade”). Block Trades nevertheless remain subject to the Trading Rules and must be reported within a set time limit.

Prices of Block Trades will be broadcast to all Exchange Members but will not, however, be included in the determination or calculation of any daily settlement amounts or affect any live prices on the ETS. In connection with the Block Trade Facility, NASDAQ is also introducing a new, limited category of Exchange Member (a “Block Broker Member”) to permit persons brokering Block Trades to report both the buyer and seller leg of a qualifying Block Trade and for ensuring that the relevant trade details are correct. Block Broker Members must maintain all necessary authorizations and registrations required under applicable law.

Further detail regarding the Block Trade Facility will be published together with the updated Trading Rules in due time.

Legal Disclaimer
The content of this Notice is subject to change without notice. NASDAQ assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions and makes no representations or warranties with respect to the information and disclaims all liability for any use you made of the contents. 

 

For further information, please contact NASDAQ OMX Commodities:

Andreas Gustafsson, Vice President Head of Nordic/Baltic legal Office of General Counsel, phone +46 8 405 6711/+46 73 449 6711, andreas.gustafsson@nasdaqomx.com

 

Media contact:
Sara Aadnesen, Director Corporate Communications, phone +47 9060 0759, sara.aadnesen@nasdaqomx.com

 

About NASDAQ OMX
The inventor of the electronic exchange, The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc., fuels economies and provides transformative technologies for the entire lifecycle of a trade - from risk management to trade to surveillance to clearing. In the U.S. and Europe, we own and operate 26 markets including 3 clearinghouses and 5 central securities depositories supporting equities, options, fixed income, derivatives, commodities, futures and structured products. Able to process more than 1 million    messages per second at sub-55 microsecond average speeds with 99.99% uptime, our technology drives more than 70 marketplaces in 50 developed and emerging countries into the future, powering 1 in 10 of the world’s securities transactions. Our award-winning data products and worldwide indexes are the benchmarks in the financial industry. Home to approximately 3,300 listed companies worth $6 trillion in market cap whose innovations shape our world, we give the ideas of tomorrow access to capital today. Welcome to where the world takes a big leap forward, daily. Welcome to the NASDAQ OMX Century. To learn more, visit www.nasdaqomx.com. Follow us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/NASDAQ) and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/nasdaqomx). (Symbol: NDAQ and member of S&P 500)

About NASDAQ OMX Commodities
NASDAQ OMX Commodities is the brand name for the NASDAQ OMX Group’s worldwide suite of commodity related products and services. The NASDAQ OMX Commodities offerings include power, natural gas and carbon emission markets and clearing services. NASDAQ OMX Commodities is a trademark of the NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.

NASDAQ OMX Commodities Europe is the trade name of NASDAQ OMX Oslo ASA which is authorized as a commodity derivatives exchange by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance and supervised by the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority. All trades with NASDAQ OMX Commodities Europe are subject to clearing with NASDAQ OMX Clearing.

NOS Clearing ASA is the leading clearing house for the freight market and a specialist clearing provider to the commodities markets. The company is wholly owned by the NASDAQ OMX Group Inc. The clearinghouse, which is situated in Oslo, has more than 300 members.

NASDAQ OMX Clearing is the trade name of NASDAQ OMX Stockholm AB which is authorized and supervised as a multi-asset clearinghouse by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority in Sweden as well as authorized to conduct clearing operation in Norway by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance.

For more information, visit www.nasdaqomx.com/commodities

NASDAQ OMX's 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.

This document is being directed solely at and may only be communicated to persons: (i) who have professional experience in matters relating to investments as defined in Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "FPO") or, (ii) who are high net worth companies, unincorporated associations and trustees of high value trusts within Article 49(2)(a)-(d) of the FPO, or (iii) to whom it may otherwise be lawful to distribute it (all such persons together being referred to as "Relevant Persons"). Any investment activity to which this document relates is available only to Relevant Persons and will be engaged in only with Relevant Persons.

[1] For further information on the separation of NASDAQ OMX Stockholm’s trading and clearing operations, please visithttp://www.nasdaqomx.com/europeanclearing/newsmandatorychanges/separationtradingandclearingoperations/

[2] An exchange member is a person other than NASDAQ that is a party to a valid and effective exchange membership agreement, non-clearing membership agreement or a broker member agreement (“Exchange Member”).