The Iraq Stock Exchange Upgrades to NASDAQ OMX’s X-Stream Technology (AcT)

NEW YORK and BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 28, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The NASDAQ OMX Group (Nasdaq:NDAQ) has entered an agreement with the Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) to upgrade its current trading platform. Under the terms of the agreement, ISX will replace its existing NASDAQ OMX platform (Horizon) with one powered by the renowned X-stream technology. The upgrade is expected to be rolled out by mid-year 2014.

"We are committed to becoming one of the most innovative and groundbreaking exchanges, in the Middle East and across the world," said Taha A. Abdulsalam, CEO, Iraq Stock Exchange. "Upgrading our trading technology and continuing our partnership with NASDAQ OMX is a clear indication to investors, regulators and other exchanges that Iraq will continue to become a financial center for more regional and global businesses."

The upgrade to X-stream will provide ISX with a widely deployed high-end, multi-asset trading platform that complies with international standards. The migration to X-stream is a step in ISX's ambition to become a Middle Eastern hub, able to host and facilitate other regional markets. NASDAQ OMX has delivered trading technology to ISX since 2007.

"We congratulate the Iraq Stock Exchange on their commitment to a trading platform that is certain to put them at the technology forefront of exchanges in the Middle East," Lars Ottersgard, Senior Vice President, Market Technology, NASDAQ OMX. "The upgrade to X-stream technology will equip ISX with a sophisticated and robust trading platform that increases investor involvement both in the Middle East and internationally."

In less than a decade, traded shares in ISX increased almost 10-fold, to more than 1.2 billion traded shares expected in 2013, while market capitalization increased more than seven times over the same period to over $12,170 billion USD in the first six months of 2013 alone.

"We are extremely proud to support ISX's positive development and their vision to provide a well-recognized marketplace in the region," said Michèle Carlsson, Head of Business Development, Middle East and Africa, NASDAQ OMX. "ISX recently implemented one of the most successful IPOs in the Middle East and by upgrading to our X-stream technology, ISX will be running a resilient market place that will attract both Iraqi and international investors."

NASDAQ OMX's X-stream technology is currently used by over 25 exchanges globally.

About NASDAQ OMX:

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 26 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 approximately 3,400 listed companies worth $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 ( http://www.facebook.com/NASDAQ) and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/nasdaqomx). (Symbol: NDAQ and member of S&P 500)

About Iraq Stock Exchange

Iraq stock exchange (ISX) was established according to law 74 on April 18, 2004 and began trading on June 24, 2004, ISX held its 1st session on June 24^th 2004 using manual trading, written auction on white boards, orders get executed in the specified units either partially or in full, priorities are given to highest price in the buy orders and the lowest prices in the sell orders, since 24th Jun 2004 till 19th April 2009.

To enable companies to trade electronically, Electronic trading was introduced to the market for the first time in the history of Iraq by using NASDAQ OMX platform in April 2009, The White boards have been replaced by Electronic trading workstations. ISX operates 5 trading sessions on Sunday, to Thursday every week.

According to the regulation rules, ISX tasks include: Regulating, controlling, disclosing, and launching continuous trading on listed company's shares, in addition to controlling both trading operations and activities of Brokerage Companies financial solvency.

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 X-stream 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.

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