NASDAQ OMX Global Large Mid Cap Index Receives Special FINRA Designation (AcT)

NASDAQ OMX Global Index Designated by Largest Independent Securities Regulator

NEW YORK, June 25, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) today announced the Financial Industry Regulation Authority (FINRA) has designated the NASDAQ Global Large Mid Cap Index (Nasdaq:NQGLMCI) as an alternative index to allow member firms to calculate position limits on conventional equity options on foreign listed securities. Beginning June 27, member firms may use securities in the NASDAQ Global Large Mid Cap Index for purposes of position limit and quote criteria, pursuant to FINRA Rule 2360.

The NASDAQ Global Large Mid Cap Index is part of the NASDAQ Global Index Family, which provides a transparent, rules-based benchmark for institutional investors. This family is specifically designed to meet the needs of institutions that are facing continued demands to track the global equity market. The NASDAQ Global Large Mid Cap Index is a free-float adjusted market capitalization-weighted index designed to track the performance of securities in the NASDAQ Global Market Index (Nasdaq:NQGI) that comprise the large- and mid-cap segment of companies. Securities in the NASDAQ Global Large Mid Cap Index are evaluated semi-annually in March and September to allow for continued and correct representation of the changing global equity markets.

FINRA's addition of NASDAQ's Global Large Mid Cap Index through Regulatory Notice 13-20 can benefit traders by increasing competition among index providers. Before designating the NASDAQ index, FINRA previously designated only the FTSE All-World Index to calculate OTC option position limits for foreign listed securities. In addition to increased competition, this change may allow members to use higher position limits on conventional equity options overlying a broader range of foreign securities.

"Through increased competition, FINRA member firms that buy data to monitor securities in these indexes will benefit from having an additional option which has the potential to lower pricing," said NASDAQ OMX Executive Vice President John Jacobs. "This announcement comes when the index industry is undergoing a transformation and investors are looking at a number of different index providers based on overall value. This designation by a highly-regarded regulator such as FINRA comes as we have developed our index business – NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes – into a premier, world-wide index operator."

The NASDAQ Global Index Family represents more than 98% of the global equity investable marketplace and consists of more than 24,000 indexes. The family covers more than 9,000 securities with a combined float-adjusted market capitalization of over $37 trillion and consists of global securities broken down by market segment, region, country, size and sector.

For more information about FINRA's designation, visit http://www.finra.org/web/groups/industry/@ip/@reg/@notice/documents/notices/p269886.pdf

About NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes

NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes has been creating innovative, market-leading, transparent indexes since 1971. Today, our index offering spans geographies and asset classes and includes diverse families such as the Dividend Achievers, Global, Nordic, Green Economy, Sharia and Commodity Indexes. We continuously offer new opportunities for financial product sponsors across a wide-spectrum of investable products and for asset managers to measure risk and performance. NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes also provides custom index services and design solutions to selected financial organizations. For more information about NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes, visit indexes.nasdaqomx.com.

Daily index values, weightings and historical data for NASDAQ OMX indexes are available via NASDAQ OMX Global Index Watch and NASDAQ OMX Global Index Data Service.

About NASDAQ OMX Group

The inventor of the electronic exchange, The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc., fuels economies and provides transformative technologies for the entire lifecycle of a trade - from risk management to trade to surveillance to clearing. In the U.S. and Europe, we own and operate 23 markets, 3 clearinghouses and 5 central securities depositories supporting equities, options, fixed income, derivatives, commodities, futures and structured products. Able to process more than 1 million messages per second at sub-40 microsecond speeds with 99.99+% uptime, our technology drives more than 70 marketplaces in 50 developed and emerging countries into the future, powering 1 in 10 of the world's securities transactions. Our award-winning data products and worldwide indexes are the benchmarks in the financial industry. Home to over 3,300 listed companies worth more than $6 trillion in market cap whose innovations shape our world, we give the ideas of tomorrow access to capital today. Welcome to where the world takes a big leap forward, daily. Welcome to the NASDAQ OMX Century. To learn more, visit www.nasdaqomx.com. Follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NASDAQ) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/nasdaqomx). (Symbol: NDAQ and member of S&P 500)

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The matters described herein contain forward-looking statements that are made under the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the NASDAQ Global Large Mid Cap Index, NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes and NASDAQ OMX's other products and offerings. We caution that these statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or other factors beyond NASDAQ OMX's control. These factors include, but are not limited to factors detailed in NASDAQ OMX's annual report on Form 10-K, and periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to release any revisions to any forward-looking statements.

NDAQG

CONTACT: NASDAQ OMX Media Contact:
Wayne Lee
+1.301.978.4875
Wayne.D.Lee@nasdaqomx.com