Based on the Business Cooperation Agreement with Nasdaq Japan, Inc., OSE opened the Nasdaq Japan Market on June 19, 2000, just marking its first year anniversary. As a clearing organization, OSE provides central counterparty functions for the Nasdaq Japan Market.
OSE and Nasdaq Japan, Inc. plan to introduce a new trading platform that aims to improve liquidity through the introduction of a dealer-based market-making system that is similar to Nasdaq's U.S. and European market. These markets will ultimately be linked, giving issuers future access to global pools of liquidity.
To support this global trading strategy, Nasdaq and OSE, under the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), have agreed to work with DTCC to plan an improved solution for the clearance and settlement of cross-border transactions and transactions in non-Japanese securities. It is envisioned that this solution will ultimately be part of a seamless global clearance and settlement solution supporting Nasdaq's markets worldwide, including Nasdaq's U.S. and European markets as well as the Nasdaq Japan Market.
"The Nasdaq Japan Market is a pillar of OSE," said Goro Tatsumi, President & CEO of OSE. "Entering into this MOU with DTCC and Nasdaq is a significant first step toward the realization of the Nasdaq global strategy and enables us to gain a foothold in the globalization of clearance and settlement. As the role of clearance and settlement continues to gain importance, OSE looks forward to contributing to the convenience for global market participants by playing an important role to bring Nasdaq global strategies into fruition with our partners."
"We are extremely pleased to be working with Nasdaq and OSE to streamline the clearance and settlement of internationally traded securities on the Nasdaq Japan Market," said Dennis J. Dirks, COO of DTCC. "Our strategy continues to be to look at partnering solutions, which we hope will help the industry achieve a seamless global clearing infrastructure, bringing greater efficiency and lower cost."
"As we recently celebrated the opening of Nasdaq Europe and just days ago marked our first anniversary in Japan, we are thrilled to see our global strategy beginning to take shape", said John Hilley, Chairman and CEO of Nasdaq International. "This particular initiative, which brings together our key clearance and settlement partners, DTCC and OSE, makes a strong statement about our commitment to building a global trading and settlement platform and particularly underscores our recognition of the competitive advantages to be garnered in the clearance and settlement space."
Osaka Securities Exchange Co., Ltd. was established in June 1878, and restarted in April 1949 as a membership organization under the Japanese Securities and Exchange Law. OSE converted its entity into a joint stock corporation on April 1, 2001. While being a stock exchange with the second largest trading volume and market capitalization, OSE is the major market for equity derivatives in Japan. For more information, visit www.ose.or.jp.
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) is the largest financial services post-trade infrastructure organization in the world. Through its subsidiaries, DTCC offers clearance, settlement, custody and information services for equities, corporate and municipal debt, money market instruments, American depositary receipts, exchange-traded funds, unit investment trusts, mutual funds, insurance products and other securities. The National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC) subsidiary, which acts as a central counterparty (CCP), provides trade guarantee, netting and risk management services for equity and debt transactions from U.S. stock exchanges and markets, valued at $105 trillion in 2000. The Depository Trust Company (DTC) subsidiary has custody of and provides asset servicing for 2 million securities issues of issuers from the U.S. and 65 other countries, valued at $23 trillion. DTC serves as a major clearinghouse for institutional post-trade settlement, and in 2000, processed book-entry deliveries valued at more than $116 trillion. DTCC's two subsidiary businesses have S&P's highest rating: AAA. A DTCC/Thomson Financial joint venture company, Omgeo, provides seamless, real-time, automated institutional post-trade processing services in 37 countries. For more information on DTCC, see www.dtcc.com.
The Nasdaq Stock Market lists over 4,400 companies, has a larger dollar volume, and trades more shares per day than any other U.S. market. Nasdaq is an affiliate of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (NASD®), the largest securities-industry, self-regulatory organization in the United States. For more information about Nasdaq, visit the Nasdaq Web site at www.nasdaq.com or the Nasdaq Newsroom SM at www.nasdaqnews.com.
