Nasdaq launched its market in Japan in June 2000, with a commitment to providing Japanese issuers and investors with a market model providing a superior level of transparency, liquidity and accessibility.
Under the Business Cooperation Agreement signed with the OSE in April of 2000, with the cooperation of the OSE, the regulatory approval for the NJ Dealer market was projected to be received by the end of March 2001.
Despite market support, and considerable actions taken by Nasdaq to tailor the dealer market to the needs of member companies and reduce their development costs, the OSE is yet to submit the rules for the dealer market to their Board, a necessary first step in achieving regulatory approval.
In view of the substantial delay achieving regulatory approval and an increasing awareness of the need for consolidation among market participants, Nasdaq has formally informed the OSE that it will commence exploring alternative avenues for speeding up regulatory approval and implementation of the NJ Dealer market.
Today's communication to the OSE today is not intended as notice that it wishes to terminate its agreement with that Exchange. Rather, Nasdaq feels that an objective and independent approach to exploring alternative avenues is the only course of action open to it in order to fulfill the undertakings made to issuers, investors and its shareholders at the time of its inception.
Nasdaq wishes to clearly state that its ongoing commitment to bringing Japanese issuers, investors and member companies access to the best possible market platform remains as strong as ever."
Nasdaq is the world's largest stock market. With nearly 4,000 companies, Nasdaq lists more companies and trades more shares per day than any other U.S. market. Over the past five years, Nasdaq has outpaced all other U.S. markets in listing IPOs. It is home to category-defining companies that are leaders across all areas of business including technology, retail, communications, financial services, media and biotechnology industries. With operations on three continents, Nasdaq is a key driver of global capital formation. For more information about Nasdaq, visit the Nasdaq Web site at www.nasdaq.com or the Nasdaq NewsroomSM at www.nasdaqnews.com.
Nasdaq Japan, Inc., which provides marketing and system development for the Nasdaq Japan Market, is a private, for-profit organization owned by The Nasdaq Stock Market, Softbank Corp., and thirteen leading securities firms. The Nasdaq Japan Market is an independent section of the Osaka Securities Exchange and celebrated its first day of trading on 19 June 2000. With 22 months elapsed since its inception, the market now has 95 companies listed. For more information, please visit www.nasdaq-japan.com.
