jaysonkim11's  Instablog

Nasdaq OMX last night announced it was taking a 25% stake in the three-year old Dutch trading platform upon final approval from Tom's existing shareholders - ABN Amro. Trading in European listed derivatives has for some time been a fairly costly duopoly between Liffe and Deutsche Börse's Eurex. The exchanges offer nominal competition in some contracts, such as short-dated interest-rate futures, but even where competition exists liquidity still tends to pool at one exchange.

Launched in 2009, Tom offers trading in Dutch, Belgian and French stock and stock options, with clearing through the ABN Amro-owned Holland Clearing House. Having expanded its product base this year, Tom now has full competition across all NYSE single-stock options and hopes to launch competing contracts in some index option contracts by the end of this year. Tom's options contracts have proved most popular, and the platform is now responsible for around 15% of Dutch options contracts, business won almost entirely from Liffe. Jochumsen, who will join Tom's supervisory board, said the plan was to take the platform's success into new markets.

The move will also strongly position Nasdaq for the wider changes affecting derivatives markets, as regulators seek to move the most standardized over-the-counter products onto exchange. Analysts have pointed to further acquisitions as Nasdaq continues to diversify. Jayson Kim, an analyst on the European exchange sector with AIG, said: "Nasdaq has a history of rejuvenating their franchises through the acquisition of smaller platforms. I think we'll see more of that as they continue to evolve their business beyond their core global cash equity offerings."