Nasdaq divides business into three units to streamline operations

(Reuters) – Nasdaq Inc said on Wednesday it was reorganizing its business into three divisions to focus on major growth areas as competition among trading exchanges was intensifying.

It said Market Platforms, Capital Access Platforms and Anti-Financial Crime will be the new units that will focus on digital assets, carbon markets, providing investment intelligence apart from U.S. equities.

The New York-based stock exchange, which competes with CBOE Global Markets, NYSE and its parent Intercontinental Exchange Inc and BATS Global Markets, said the fourth quarter and full year 2022 results will reflect the changes.

Nasdaq’s efforts to streamline its operations come after the sector, which largely catered to stocks and derivatives, underwent an upgrade as cryptocurrencies gained popularity.

Last week, Nasdaq launched a digital assets business that places it in a direct competition with crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase Inc.

It also expanded its anti-financial crime technology to detect and curb money laundering, fraud and market abuse risks.

A few months ago a federal judge dismissed long-running litigation cases accusing seven U.S. stock exchanges of defrauding ordinary investors by quietly allowing high-frequency traders to trade faster and at better prices.

The restructuring aims to “accelerate our efforts in our major growth areas through this new corporate structure, with our ultimate goal to become the trusted fabric of the financial system,” said Adena Friedman, president and chief executive officer of Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Mehnaz Yasmin in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)