(October 7 – 18:10 ET) – The
National Association of Securities
Dealers’ Board of Governors met
today to continue discussions
about its plans to take Nasdaq
public. The meeting failed to
produce any definitive
announcement on the market’s
future direction.

NASD chairman and chief
executive Frank Zarb called the
meeting “another step in a year-
long process that we have
undertaken to ‘reinvent’ Nasdaq.”
He added that it will continue to
work on developing a model for
consideration by the board in the
“next few months.”

Earlier this week, Nasdaq
submitted a proposal to the
Securities and Exchange
Commission. It recommended
positioning Nasdaq as the
consolidator of market data
for its own traders and those
using the upstart electronic
communication networks.

In the summer, it appeared that
Nasdaq and the NYSE were in a
rush to beat each other to the
public market before the end
of the year. But both proposals
have cooled. The markets seem
resigned to first digesting
Y2K and decimalization, slated
for next year in the U.S.,
before they rush into IPOs.

-IE Staff


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