Frank G. Zarb, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (NASD®)--parent of The Nasdaq Stock Market® commented, "Today marks an important step forward in the global trading of stocks. The opening of Nasdaq-Japan sets the stage for a common technology platform linking Asia with Europe and the United States. It will be a win for companies, who will get access to new pools of liquidity. It will be a win for investors, who will get quicker and cheaper access to a wider range of equities. And it will be a win for countries, whose economies benefit from the wealth and job creation fostered by the Nasdaq market."
Nasdaq Japan Inc., President and CEO, Tatsuyuki Saeki stated, "This is an important day for Japanese investors and in the history of Japan's financial markets. Nasdaq Japan will offer investors a transparent, fair and truly global market while companies can access capital for future growth and benefit from the strength of the Nasdaq brand. It is truly a new day for the Japanese economy."
Masayoshi Son, President and CEO of Softbank Corp. said, "Now Japanese companies and investors can benefit from the strength and success of the Nasdaq brand. By creating an efficient market that links investors and entrepreneurs directly and easily Nasdaq Japan has created more opportunities for the growth and success of emerging Japanese companies-especially high-tech, growth-oriented companies."
The Nasdaq Japan Market is operated in partnership with the Osaka Securities Exchange (OSE). Utilizing its current technology, the OSE operates The Nasdaq Japan Market maintaining the standards of order driven market functions while performing services related to clearance and settlement, listing examination, market information, disclosure and market surveillance. During 2001, The Nasdaq Japan Market will introduce and operate its own hybrid market structure and bring together firm quotations, limit orders and market orders into an integrated electronic system utilizing Indigo Systems technology. This market structure is designed to enable a competitive, efficient, transparent market for trading securities in Japan by combining the best elements of an order driven market and a dealer based market.
Nasdaq Japan, Inc., was founded on June 15, 1999 as a joint venture company with the mission of providing the latest market technology to facilitate The Nasdaq Japan Market, a state-of-the art electronic securities market for the growth of capital and globalization of the Japanese economy. Nasdaq Japan, Inc., operates as a private, for-profit organization with 50-50 ownership by the NASD and Softbank Corp. For more information, visit www.nasdaq-japan.com.
The Osaka Securities Exchange was established on April 1, 1949, as a membership organization under the Japanese Securities and Exchange Law and is one of Japan's oldest and most respected securities exchanges. In order to keep pace with growing diversified needs, the OSE introduced a fully-automated computerized trading system that maintains high standards of order driven market functions. Also, the OSE is the largest derivatives market in Japan. Nikkei 225 futures trading is well established as a key product among stock index futures traded on the world's futures exchanges. For more information, visit www.ose.or.jp.
SOFTBANK Corporation (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 9984) is one of the world's Internet leaders. Through its ownership positions in more than 300 Internet companies and its unique, global approach to building Internet enterprises, it is able to realize unprecedented synergies among its group of companies. In Japan, SOFTBANK's activities encompass online financial services, e-commerce, online media and marketing services, e-business solutions, and joint ventures with industry leaders including Microsoft, Cisco, Yahoo! and the National Association of Security Dealers (NASD). For more information, visit www.softbank.co.jp and www.softbank.com.
The Nasdaq Stock Market lists nearly 5,000 companies, has a larger dollar volume, and trades more shares per day than any other U.S. market. Nasdaq is a subsidiary 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 NewsroomSM at www.nasdaqnews.com.
