Nasdaq and Softbank (part owner of E*Trade) to announce the launch of sister electronic trading system in Japan..., read on:
Nasdaq sets Japan project
Electronic-trading system said to mirror Europe's Easdaq market
June 14, 1999: 4:53 p.m. ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Nasdaq stock market is likely to announce the launch of a sister electronic trading system in Japan, published reports and industry sources said Monday.
Nasdaq, the second-largest U.S. stock market, said it would make a "major announcement" at a news briefing early Tuesday morning.
The National Association of Securities Dealers, the parent of the Nasdaq Stock Market, would not comment, but the sources and reports suggested it would be another overseas trading system.
The Nasdaq already has a European sibling, Easdaq, a Brussels-based system that trades stocks from across Europe.
The Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun said the Japanese system would trade stocks of start-up companies, including some U.S. firms listed on Nasdaq.
It said the NASD would set up a joint subsidiary with Japan's Softbank Corp. and other firms to fund the system.
Few details were available about the planned venture.
Nasdaq must hope the Japan-based system avoids the disappointment of its older sister Easdaq. Founded in November 1996 by venture capital groups and fund management companies, Easdaq was billed as one of the first pan-European exchanges with unified rules for listing, trading and clearing.
But the electronic market traded just 43 stocks at last check, short of its 1998 year-end goal of 50 listings.
Analysts said the Japanese system might prove successful for two reasons: Japanese investors are far more used to sharp stock market moves than Europeans, and there has been enormous growth in small-capitalization stocks in Japan, stirring investor interest in the sector.
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