The National Association of Securities Dealers (Nasd) has received regulatory approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to operate the Alternative Display Facility (ADF) on a pilot basis, but will have to wait a few more weeks for the go-ahead for the SuperMontage trading platform.
The SEC gave its approval for Nasd's proposal to operate the quote-display and trade-reporting facility on a pilot basis until 24 April, 2003, for Nasdaq securities only.
As a precondition to the operation of Nasdaq's next generation trading platform, SuperMontage, the ADF is intended to satisfy a statutory requirement under the federal securities laws that the Nasd encourage fair and informative quotations by its members.
Postponing the tentative live launch date of 29 July, the SEC says it will consider the extent to which the preconditions of SuperMontage have been satisfied at an open Commission meeting currently scheduled for 12 August, 2002.
Nasdaq says it will roll-out SuperMontage, as planned, on Monday, July 29, with 32 test securities. Market participants and data vendors have asked for test stocks in order to check their own internal systems and to provide real time securities data to pass down to their customers.
"SuperMontage will redefine what's possible for a stock market by bringing new opportunities to investors, market participants, and companies," says Rick Ketchum, president and deputy chairman, Nasdaq. "From a technology perspective, SuperMontage is ready for implementation and we will continue to work with our customers and vendors to ensure a smooth transition to the new platform once the SEC takes all necessary regulatory action for Nasdaq to launch SuperMontage."