NASDAQ CEO in Washington says "Swedish markets are dynamic, innovative and growing"

Posted by Susanna at 2:55 PM, Jan 25, 2010 (Comments)

Category: Events

The head of NASDAQ OMX Group Bob Greifeld discussed the economic situation at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

BOB GREIFELD, the head of NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc., during a Newsmaker event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, January 21, mentioned Sweden as an example when warning about the recent proposal by some in Congress to introduce a securities transaction tax as a way to "punish" Wall Street for the excesses of the past decade.

"CONSIDER SWEDEN, a country NASDAQ knows well since our merger with OMX. In 1984, Sweden introduced a 1 percent transaction tax and then doubled it. By 1990, over 50 percent of the volume of Swedish shares traded in London. The day the tax was announced, the Swedish market fell by 2.2 percent," Mr. Greifeld said in his address. The tax was abolished in 1991. And, according to him, the Swedish markets are now "dynamic, innovative and growing."

IN A CLIMATE of economic uncertainty and anxiety, Mr. Greifeld mentioned that the financial landscape has improved but it is structurally the same as before the crisis. He pointed out how financial re-regulation and the urgency to create new jobs in the U.S. are fundamentally intertwined.

IT IS A JOBLESS recovery, and Mr. Greifeld's advice to turn things around is a good market structure which allows people with good ideas to raise capital. "Good ideas, funded by capital, produce jobs," he said. Additionally he talked about the connection between Wall Street and Main Street, to provide capital to grow jobs. Finally he pointed out that "an enlightened regulatory effort will encourage capital formation and growth. And sustained economic progress will be the best way to ensure the health of the markets."

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