| Organization and Nature of Operations |
Organization and Nature of Operations Nasdaq is a global technology company serving the capital markets and other industries. Our diverse offering of data, analytics, software and services enables clients to optimize and execute their business vision with confidence. We manage, operate and provide our products and services in four business segments: Market Services, Corporate Services, Information Services and Market Technology. Market Services Our Market Services segment includes our Equity Derivative Trading and Clearing, Cash Equity Trading, FICC and Trade Management Services businesses. We operate multiple exchanges and other marketplace facilities across several asset classes, including derivatives, commodities, cash equity, debt, structured products and ETPs. In addition, in some countries where we operate exchanges, we also provide broker services, clearing, settlement and central depository services. Our transaction-based platforms provide market participants with the ability to access, process, display and integrate orders and quotes. The platforms allow the routing and execution of buy and sell orders as well as the reporting of transactions, providing fee-based revenues. In the U.S., we operate six electronic options exchanges and three cash equity exchanges. The Nasdaq Stock Market, the largest of our cash equities exchanges, is the largest single venue of liquidity for trading U.S.-listed cash equities. We also operate an electronic platform for trading of U.S. Treasuries and NFX, a U.S. based designated contract market which lists cash-settled energy derivatives based on key energy benchmarks including oil, natural gas and U.S. power. In addition, we also operate a Canadian exchange for the trading of certain Canadian-listed securities. In Europe, we operate exchanges in Stockholm (Sweden), Copenhagen (Denmark), Helsinki (Finland), and Reykjavik (Iceland), as well as the clearing operations of Nasdaq Clearing, as Nasdaq Nordic. We also operate exchanges in Tallinn (Estonia), Riga (Latvia) and Vilnius (Lithuania) as Nasdaq Baltic. Collectively, Nasdaq Nordic and Nasdaq Baltic offer trading in cash equities, depository receipts, warrants, convertibles, rights, fund units and ETFs, as well as trading and clearing of derivatives and clearing of resale and repurchase agreements. Nasdaq Commodities is the brand name for Nasdaq’s European commodity-related products and services. Nasdaq Commodities’ offerings include derivatives in oil, power, natural gas and carbon emission markets, seafood, electricity certificates and clearing services. These products are listed on two of Nasdaq’s derivatives exchanges, Nasdaq Oslo ASA and NFX. Through our Trade Management Services business, we provide market participants with a wide variety of alternatives for connecting to and accessing our markets via a number of different protocols used for quoting, order entry, trade reporting, and connectivity to various data feeds. We also provide data center services, including co-location to market participants, whereby we offer firms cabinet space and power to house their own servers and other equipment within our data centers. Our broker services operations offer technology and customized securities administration solutions to financial participants in the Nordic market. In March 2019, we entered into an agreement to sell Nordic Fund Market, an electronic mutual fund service which is a small part of our Broker Services business. The closing of this transaction occurred on October 31, 2019. Corporate Services Our Corporate Services segment includes our Listing Services and Corporate Solutions businesses. Our Listing Services business includes our U.S. and European Listing Services businesses. We operate a variety of listing platforms around the world to provide multiple global capital raising solutions for private and public companies. Our main listing markets are The Nasdaq Stock Market and the Nasdaq Nordic and Nasdaq Baltic exchanges. Through Nasdaq First North, our Nordic and Baltic operations also offer alternative marketplaces for smaller companies and growth companies. Our Listing Services business also includes NPM, which provides liquidity solutions for private companies and private funds. In December 2018, we launched our Corporate Bond exchange for the listing and trading of corporate bonds. The new exchange operates pursuant to The Nasdaq Stock Market exchange license and is powered by NFF. As of September 30, 2019, there were 3,091 total listings on The Nasdaq Stock Market, including 382 ETPs. The combined market capitalization was approximately $13.4 trillion. In Europe, the Nasdaq Nordic and Nasdaq Baltic exchanges, together with Nasdaq First North, were home to 1,028 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of approximately $1.4 trillion. Our Corporate Solutions business includes our Investor Relations Intelligence and Governance Solutions businesses which serve both public and private companies and organizations. Our public clients can be companies listed on our exchanges or other U.S. and global exchanges. We help organizations enhance their ability to understand and expand their global shareholder base, and improve corporate governance through our suite of advanced technology, analytics, and consultative services. In October 2019, Nasdaq acquired the Center for Board Excellence, or CBE, a privately-held provider of corporate governance and compliance solutions for boards of directors, CEOs, corporate secretaries and general counsels. Nasdaq will combine CBE with its Nasdaq Governance Solutions business, which includes board portal and collaboration technology solutions. We expect the combination will enhance Nasdaq's position as a leading provider of technology, research, insights and consultative services designed to advance governance excellence and collaboration at organizations worldwide. In March 2019, we sold our BWise enterprise governance, risk and compliance software platform and in April 2018, we sold our Public Relations Solutions and Digital Media Services businesses. See Note 5, “Acquisitions and Divestitures,” for further discussion. As of December 31, 2018, BWise was classified as held for sale. See Note 6, “Assets and Liabilities Held for Sale,” for further discussion. For segment reporting purposes, we have included the revenues and expenses of BWise and the Public Relations Solutions and Digital Media Services businesses in corporate items. These businesses were part of the Corporate Solutions business, within our Corporate Services segment, prior to the date of sale. For discussion of business segments, see Note 19, “Business Segments.” Information Services Our Information Services segment includes our Market Data, Index and Investment Data & Analytics businesses. Our Market Data business sells and distributes historical and real-time quote and trade information to the sell-side, the buy-side, retail online brokers, proprietary trading shops, other venues, internet portals and data distributors. Our market data products enhance transparency of market activity within our exchanges and provide critical information to professional and non-professional investors globally. Our Index business develops and licenses Nasdaq-branded indexes, associated derivatives, and financial products and also provides custom calculation services for third-party clients. As of September 30, 2019, we had 325 ETPs licensed to Nasdaq’s indexes which had $207 billion in assets under management. Our Investment Data & Analytics business is a leading content and analytics cloud-based solutions provider used by asset managers, investment consultants and asset owners to help facilitate better investment decisions. Market Technology Our Market Technology segment is a leading global technology solutions provider and partner to exchanges, clearing organizations, central securities depositories, regulators, banks, brokers, buy-side firms and corporate businesses. Our Market Technology business is the sales channel for our complete global offering to other marketplaces. Market Technology provides technology solutions for trading, clearing, settlement, surveillance and information dissemination to markets with wide-ranging requirements, from the leading markets in the U.S., Europe and Asia to emerging markets in the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa. Our marketplace solutions can handle a wide array of assets, including cash equities, equity derivatives, currencies, various interest-bearing securities, commodities and energy products, and are currently powering more than 100 marketplaces in 50 countries. Market Technology also provides market surveillance services to broker-dealer firms worldwide, as well as risk management solutions.
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