Nasdaq and Astana International Financial Centre JSC (AIFC) have signed a new agreement for the development of Kazakhstan’s nascent stock exchange, the AIFC Exchange.
The exchange is targeted to launch in late-2017 and will initially trade equities and fixed income with other asset classes for future phases.
Within the framework of the agreement, the Nasdaq Matching Engine will be implemented and go through several rigorous testing and acceptance stages before official deployment. The Nasdaq Machine Engine is the most widely-used matching engine in the world that combines extraordinary performance with extensive functionality to cost-effectively meet current and future business and performance requirements. Once the AIFC Exchange goes live, Nasdaq will provide continual maintenance and technical support.
Kairat Kelimbetov, governor of Astana International Financial Centre, says: “Nasdaq’s matching engine is considered the best trading platform globally, and is differentiated by the breadth and depth of its offering, security and functionality. The AIFC Authority is pleased to cooperate with Nasdaq in creating the country’s exchange infrastructure.”
Lars Ottersgård (pictured), executive vice president, head of market technology, Nasdaq, says: “Nasdaq is honoured to contribute to the new ‘state-of-the-art’ exchange infrastructure being built by AIFC Authority for the Kazakhstan and related international markets. By leveraging our Nasdaq Financial Framework, the AIFC Exchange will be running on ground breaking technology, which will allow for standardised and unified operations, coupled with robust flexibility to boost its competitive proposition in a rapidly evolving international marketplace. We look forward to partnering and supporting AIFC in this exciting new development.”
Nasdaq’s exchange technology, including trading, clearing, CSD and market surveillance systems, is in operation in more than 90 marketplaces across the Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean.
