Nasdaq to launch options trading on bail-out index

NEW YORK Jan 23 (Reuters) - Nasdaq OMX Group (NDAQ.O) said on Friday it will launch options trading on its three-week old Government Relief Index, which tracks the performance of companies bailed out by U.S. taxpayers.

Options will begin trading Monday on NASDAQ OMX PHLX, the options platform Nasdaq acquired in its takeover of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange last year, Nasdaq told Reuters. Susquehanna Securities will act as the specialist on the product.

The Government Relief Index lists 24 companies that received at least $1 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, and other government aid plans. (Reporting by Jonathan Spicer, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)