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Thursday, November 16, 2006

Equity Trader Alert #2006 - 193
NASDAQ Provides an Update on Changes to the Stock Symbol System Plan

Please Route To: Head Traders; Technical Contacts; Compliance Officers; Vendor Technical Contacts

What you need to know:

  • As announced in Head Trader Alert #2006-144, NASDAQ plans to implement a new stock symbol system. The new system plan will allow NASDAQ to have the capability to accept and distribute 1-, 2- and 3-character symbols for NASDAQ-listed and other exchange-listed securities, in addition to the 4-character symbols NASDAQ currently uses.
  • However, in order to provide more time for systems preparation, NASDAQ is updating the testing and implementation schedule previously announced.
  • In addition, in response to customer requests, NASDAQ has revised the ComStock fifth-character modifiers that will be used for NASDAQ-listed issues.

Whom you should contact: NASDAQ Market Sales at 800.846.0477

What is changing?
As announced in Head Trader Alert #2006-144, NASDAQ® plans to have the capability to accept and distribute 1-, 2- and 3-character symbols for NASDAQ-listed and other exchange-listed securities, in addition to the 4-character symbols NASDAQ currently uses. However, in order to provide more time for systems preparation, NASDAQ is updating the testing and implementation schedule previously announced.

What is the revised implementation and testing schedule for the stock symbol system changes?
To ensure a smooth transition, NASDAQ plans to implement the new stock symbol system in phases:

  • December 9, 2006: 1-, 2- and 3-character NASDAQ-listed test issues in the test environment. Please note that this testing will not include suffix symbology changes.
  • January 31, 2007: 1-, 2- and 3-character NASDAQ-listed test issues in production. Please note that this testing will not include suffix symbology changes.
  • Second Quarter of 2007: Begin phased roll-out of NASDAQ-listed issues with a fifth-character modifier until all NASDAQ-listed issues with fifth-character modifiers are converted to the ComStock suffix symbology. NASDAQ will also begin to actively list switched symbols and new issuers with less than 4-character symbols and newly applied ComStock suffixes.

Additional details on the testing and implementation dates will be communicated as they become available.

What are the ComStock fifth-character modifiers?
In response to customer requests, NASDAQ recently updated the Mapping of NASDAQ to ComStock Modifiers document posted on the NASDAQ Trader® website. NASDAQ has revised the values for those issue types using the backslash ("\") as a delimiter as well as the value for "With Warrants/With Rights".

Where can I get additional information?

Subscribe to NASDAQ’s email notifications. .

NASDAQ is the largest U.S. electronic stock market. With approximately 3,200 companies, it lists more companies and, on average, trades more shares per day than any other U.S. market. It is home to companies that are leaders across all areas of business including technology, retail, communications, financial services, transportation, media and biotechnology. NASDAQ is the primary market for trading NASDAQ-listed stocks. For more information about NASDAQ, visit the NASDAQ Trader website at www.NASDAQTrader.com.