OMX deal scant consolation for Greifeld

At last some positive news from overseas for Bob Greifeld and the Nasdaq stock market. The decision by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited to extend by five years a technology support deal with OMX will ease fears that Nasdaq’s proposed take-over would dent technology sales at the Nordic market operator.  

OMX currently provides exchange technology systems to 60 different market participants across the globe. The renewal deadline with HKEx had been seen as an early test of the market’s appetite for buying technology from a company that would soon be in the hands of an aggressive and expansionist US owner. 

Nasdaq CEO Greifeld will also have taken grim satisfaction in reports that OMX is in advanced discussions to become the sole technology provider for Project Turquoise, the bank-backed equities trading platform that will compete head-to-head with the London Stock Exchange. 

During his unsuccessful pitch to take over the LSE, Greifeld had continually dangled the threat posed by the Turquoise consortium to the LSE’s future business and even hinted darkly that Nasdaq might also set up a competitor business. Now, it seems that his wishes may soon be granted on both scores. 

It will be scant consolation though, if Clara Furse succeeds in pushing through the LSE’s proposed take-over of Borsa Italiana, leaving Greifeld nursing a large, but no longer threatening, position in the combined group.