Nasdaq Stockholm gets opt-out on EU clearing competition rules

[January 05, 2018]  LONDON (Reuters) - Transatlantic exchange Nasdaq 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.

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.

(Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Mark Potter)

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