NASDAQ OMX Chosen To Power New East Africa Exchange

NEW YORK, Jan. 23, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) today announced that it has been selected as the technology partner for a new exchange, East Africa Exchange. NASDAQ OMX will deliver its widely deployed X-stream technology to power trading and clearing for the nascent exchange.

Through private sector led investment and under the terms of an agreement signed with the Government of Rwanda, the East Africa Exchange aims to increase regional market efficiency and liquidity as well as giving the region's population of 130 million, especially smallholder farmers, better access to markets. The exchange will initially focus on establishing an auction facility and spot trading for agriculture and non-agriculture commodities, but will also develop futures trading across the East Africa Community region.

NASDAQ OMX's X-stream technology will handle trading and clearing of equities and derivatives securities and is scheduled to roll out during the third quarter of 2013. NASDAQ OMX was selected in competition with a number of global exchange technology providers.

The East Africa Exchange will operate on a private, commercial basis, and has been established through a joint venture project by four investors: Berggruen Holdings, Heirs Holdings, 50 Ventures and Ngali Holdings. 

"This is a significant honor for us to be chosen to help launch a new exchange in Africa," said Lars Ottersgård, Senior Vice President and Head of Market Technology. As the East Africa Exchange grows and expands its vision for greater market efficiency, liquidity and transparency, we are dedicated to supporting its efforts through our proven trading and clearing technology."

NASDAQ OMX's X-stream technology is currently used by over 25 exchanges globally.

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 25 markets, 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-40 microsecond 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 3,400 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).

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 X-Stream and NASDAQ OMX'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'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.

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