Dubai:

Borse Dubai and Nasdaq, Inc. on Tuesday announced a new landmark agreement to bolster the technological infrastructure of Dubai’s stock exchanges, Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and Nasdaq Dubai, and further improve post-trade practices. DFM has been a Nasdaq Market Technology client since its inception in 2000.

Under the agreement with Borse Dubai, the parent company of DFM, Nasdaq will deliver a new INET-powered, multi-asset trading technology engine called Nasdaq Matching Engine, a state-of-the-art cash equities clearing module or Nasdaq Packaged Clearing and enable an in-memory-vetting model on the central securities depository (CSD) solution, which will increase performance, speed and resilience, all under the new Nasdaq Financial Framework architecture. This infrastructure renovation is expected to be completed by early 2019 and will pave the way for various enhancements in DFM, including central counterparty (CCP) clearing, DFM said in an emailed statement.

“Since its inception, Borse Dubai has always been committed to employ the most advanced technologies of financial markets, which positioned DFM at the forefront of the regional exchanges and further strengthened Dubai’s leading position as an international capital markets hub,” said Essa Kazim, Chairman, Borse Dubai. “We are delighted to collaborate with Nasdaq to implement this comprehensive system overhaul that will provide our market participants with a cutting-edge infrastructure and enable us to introduce numerous financial instruments and products through an efficient and highly advanced platform.”

The technology overhaul will support Borse Dubai’s growth focus, including enhancing its post-trade services, boost efforts to attract domestic and international capital, and run cutting-edge technology based on international standards and best practices under local environment. This move also positively impacts Nasdaq Dubai, as most of the trading and post-trading functionalities of Nasdaq Dubai are executed through the common technology platform that it shares with DFM.

“Nasdaq’s technology infrastructure has played a key role in enabling the success of Nasdaq Dubai so far, including our equities and equity futures markets and CCP activities. We look forward to further expanding our product offerings, markets and other services backed by Nasdaq’s efficient and effective technology enhancements,” Hamed Ali, Chief Executive of Nasdaq Dubai, said in a statement.

Nasdaq’s exchange technology, including trading, clearing, CSD and market surveillance systems, is in operation in over 85 marketplaces across the Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean.