NASDAQ to trade through DFM

The Dubai Financial Services Authority has given final approval for NASDAQ Dubai to trade its listed equities through the Dubai Financial Market from today.

The move is part of an outsourcing strategy to increase trading volumes on NASDAQ Dubai and strengthen Dubai’s role as a centre of capital markets activity.

NASDAQ Dubai’s equities will remain listed on NASDAQ Dubai and will not be listed on DFM, but clearing, settlement and custody functions for equities will migrate to DFM’s systems.
 
Jeff Singer, NASDAQ Dubai chief executive, said: “Working closely with DFSA and our market participants, we have met a challenging timetable for the outsourcing.  The new structure will provide DFM’s 520,000 individual investors with easier access to NASDAQ Dubai equities. It will also provide institutional investors, including those based overseas, with the same easy access that they currently enjoy.”

In May, DFM became the majority owner of NASDAQ Dubai through an acquisition of shares from Borse Dubai and NASDAQ OMX, the international exchange group. NASDAQ Dubai remains a separate company regulated by the DFSA and it retains its own legal framework, listing rules and members.