Borse Dubai and Nasdaq announced yesterday the signing of a new agreement to bolster the technological infrastructure of Dubai’s stock exchanges, Dubai Financial Market, DFM, and Nasdaq Dubai, and further improve post-trade practices.

Under the agreement with Borse Dubai, the parent company of DFM, Nasdaq will deliver a new INET-powered, multi-asset trading technology engine, the Nasdaq Matching Engine, a state-of-the-art cash equities clearing module, Nasdaq Packaged Clearing, and enable an in-memory-vetting model on the central securities depository, CSD, solution, which will increase performance, speed and resiliency, all under the new Nasdaq Financial Framework architecture. This infrastructure renovation is expected to be completed by early 2019 and will pave the way for various enhancements in DFM, including central counterparty, CCP, clearing.

"Since its inception, Borse Dubai has always been committed to employing the most advanced technologies of financial markets, which have positioned DFM at the forefront of regional exchanges and strengthened Dubai’s leading position as an international capital markets hub," said Essa Kazim, Chairman of Borse Dubai. "We are delighted to collaborate with Nasdaq to implement this comprehensive system overhaul that will provide our market participants with a cutting-edge infrastructure and enable us to introduce numerous financial instruments and products through an efficient and highly advanced platform," he added.

The technology overhaul will support Borse Dubai’s growth focus, including enhancing its post-trade services, boost efforts to attract domestic and international capital, and run cutting-edge technology based on international standards and best practices under local environment conditions. This move also positively impacts Nasdaq Dubai, as most of the trading and post-trading functionalities of Nasdaq Dubai are executed through the common technology platform that it shares with DFM.

Hamed Ali, Chief Executive of Nasdaq Dubai, said, "Nasdaq’s technology infrastructure has played a key role in enabling the success of Nasdaq Dubai so far, including our equities and equity futures markets and CCP activities. We look forward to further expanding our product offerings, markets and other services backed by Nasdaq’s efficient and effective technology enhancements."

Commenting on the technology overhaul, James Martin, Regional Manager of EMEA Market Technology at Nasdaq, said, "As Dubai continues to strengthen itself as a major international financial centre, it requires transforming how its markets operate and perform to meet and exceed international standards under local market conditions, especially in the area of risk management and clearing. This new technology vision by Borse Dubai will give a clear signal to the world’s capital markets that Dubai is dedicated to take their markets to the next level."