Nasdaq OMX expands and regroups technology business
Griefeld aims to make Nasdaq a technology business
Nasdaq OMX is to combine its market technology and corporate solutions businesses, in a move that it says will help the firm provide more transparency to customers and a stronger business proposition.
The market technology business is the part of Nasdaq that sells trading technology, an increasingly important source of revenue for global exchanges in recent years. Nasdaq claims it has helped to provide technology for some 70 exchanges around the world, as well as risk management and surveillance tools. Corporate solutions provides market intelligence and communications tools designed to help companies communicate with stakeholders and reduce risk. The new combined unit will be led by Anna Ewing, executive vice president of global technology solutions at Nasdaq OMX, and will be treated as a separate reporting segment.
“We’re not just an equities exchange anymore,” said a source close to the situation. “We sell technology, and we need to combine the expertise we have to push forward.”
Competition over the opportunity to sell trading technology to emerging market exchanges around the globe has become commonplace, as exchanges in the US and Europe look for alternative source of income to compensate them for the loss of market share they have suffered in their home markets.
Nasdaq OMX’s main rival in this space are other exchanges, including NYSE Technologies, which recently provided its technology to the Qatar Exchange in Doha. The London Stock Exchange is also active selling trading technology via its subsidiary MillenniumIT, a Sri Lanka-based firm that has provided the technology for South Africa’s Johannesburg Stock Exchange, as well as market surveillance tools for Bursa Malaysia in recent months.
Deutsche Börse’s Xetra technology is also used by other stock exchanges in Europe. After implementation in Vienna, the Irish Stock Exchange followed in the year 2000. The Bulgarian Stock Exchange has used Xetra since 2008, the Ljubljana Stock Exchange in Slovenia since 2010 and the Malta Stock Exchange since 2012. The Frankfurt-based exchange group has made a determined push in this area over the past few years.
Aside from its efforts in trading technology, Nasdaq is also currently negotiating to acquire Thomson Reuters’ investor relations, PR and multimedia solutions businesses. The deal is not yet finalised, but the Nasdaq offer currently stands at $390 million in cash for the three businesses together.
“With the proposed acquisition of Thomson Reuters’ investor relations, PR and multimedia businesses and in combination with our Market Technology and Corporate Solutions business, we have achieved unprecedented scale in technology services,” said Bob Greifeld, president and chief executive at Nasdaq OMX. “We intend to continue to build this franchise into one of the top technology organisations in the world and this reorganisation reflects our focus and commitment to this exciting and growing segment of our business.”
In addition, Nasdaq has appointed Bradley Peterson as global chief information officer. Previously, Peterson was chief information for US investment house Charles Schwab, where he and his team developed the firm’s mobile brokerage and banking applications. Before that, he served as CIO for eBay and chief technology officer for Epoch Investment Partners. Peterson also served in several technology leadership roles at Pacific Telesis and AT&T Communications.
