LONDON (Reuters) - Transatlantic exchange Nasdaq (O:NDAQ) said on Friday its Stockholm unit had been given a reprieve from a new European Union rule aimed at promoting competition in clearing services for derivatives trades.
It joins four other exchanges to be granted a waiver until July 2020 from having to comply with an "open access" rule under a EU law known as Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II or MiFID II, introduced on Wednesday. Under the new system, an exchange would have to make available data from a derivatives transaction to any clearing house. At present, investors are effectively locked into using an exchange's clearer of choice, typically owned in-house. Clearing ensures a trade is completed even if one side of the deal goes bust.
A Nasdaq spokesman confirmed it had been given a waiver by the Swedish regulator. It joins ICE Futures Europe, London Metal Exchange, Eurex and Deutsche Boerse (DE:DB1Gn).
The exchanges say Britain's departure from the EU next year has created uncertainty over how market infrastructure companies will develop after the EU's biggest market leaves the bloc.