NASDAQ OMX BUYS AECC, ENERGY CLEARINGHOUSE IN CHICAGO

Posted March 10, 2010

NEW YORK – The  NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. has purchased the business of North
American Energy Credit and Clearing Corp. (NECC), a Chicago-based clearinghouse for the over the counter (OTC) power and gas markets. The NECC transaction closed on March 3. Financial terms were not disclosed. “NASDAQ OMX continues to expand its presence in OTC commodities and clearing, and this acquisition presents us with an opportunity to deliver what the U.S. power and gas market currently lacks: a clearinghouse with the flexibility to clear both financial and physical instruments,” says Bob Greifeld, Chief Executive Officer of The NASDAQ OMX Group. “The U.S. power and natural gas market is another area where we can strategically apply our exchange technology and an innovative clearing solution to reduce risk, increase volume, and better serve the customer through improved services and lower cost.”

The NASDAQ OMX Commodities Clearing operation will be led by Geir Reigstad, Head of NASDAQ OMX Commodities. NASDAQ OMX has several operations in clearing across multiple asset classes, including majority-owned IDCG, which provides clearing for interest rate swaps. NASDAQ OMX also recently completed the first cross-border merger of clearing houses with the combination of its Nord Pool and Nordic clearing houses to clear Nordic equities, fixed income and power derivatives. NASDAQ OMX plans to offer central clearing in its UK power derivatives market in 2010. The NECC acquisition follows NASDAQ OMX’s recent purchase of a majority stake in Agora-X, which enables institutional market participants to efficiently negotiate OTC transactions in commodity and derivative contracts.