The NASDAQ Listing and Hearing Review Council Seeks Comments From Issuers On Corporate...

The NASDAQ Listing and Hearing Review Council Seeks Comments From Issuers On
Corporate Governance Best Practices

NEW YORK, Oct. 5, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The NASDAQ Stock Market (Nasdaq:NDAQ)
and the Exchange's Listing and Hearing Review Council have solicited comments
from its listed companies regarding the potential adoption of corporate
governance best practices. The Listing Council welcomes comments from listed
companies, as well as investors and other interested parties, regarding the type
of best practices that could potentially be adopted by listed companies. The
Listing Council has requested that comments be submitted by October 30.

"A best practices approach has the potential to focus attention on important
governance issues in a flexible, transparent manner, and could strengthen the
way in which companies address these issues, providing benefits to public
companies and shareholders alike," said Michael Emen, Senior Vice President of
NASDAQ's Listing Qualifications Department. "NASDAQ is uniquely situated in that
we have a standing body that focuses on public policy issues related to listed
companies. We are confident that the Listing Council's review of these issues
and consideration of the public comments will add to the ongoing public dialogue
about governance questions."

Best practices are a corporate governance model widely followed around the
world, often referred to as "comply or disclose" or "comply and explain." In
this model, a company publicly discloses that it either satisfies the practice
at issue, or, if it does not, explains why not.

The issues the Listing Council is seeking comment on include, but are not
limited to, best practices surrounding executive sessions of independent
directors, continuing education and training for directors, the director
election process, and shareholder interaction with directors. Following the
collection of comments, the Listing Council will publish its recommendations. To
view the full text of the comment solicitation, visit
http://www.nasdaq.com/services/insidenasdaq.stm.

Listing Council is an independent advisory committee appointed by the NASDAQ
Board of Directors. The Listing Council was established nearly 20 years ago to
provide advice to the Board on public policy issues related to listed companies,
consistent with the Board's core responsibility of seeking independent, outside
advice. The Listing Council provides the NASDAQ Board with a breadth and wealth
of knowledge and experience on corporate governance and related issues. Members
of the Listing Council come from constituencies including institutional investor
advocates, company representatives, lawyers, accountants, securities industry
professionals and academics. To view a list of Listing Council members, visit
http://media.globenewswire.com/cache/6948/file/7414.pdf

About NASDAQ OMX

The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. is the world's largest exchange company. It delivers
trading, exchange technology and public company services across six continents,
with over 3,700 listed companies. NASDAQ OMX offers multiple capital raising
solutions to companies around the globe, including its U.S. listings market,
NASDAQ OMX Nordic, NASDAQ OMX Baltic, NASDAQ OMX First North, and the U.S. 144A
sector. The company offers trading across multiple asset classes including
equities, derivatives, debt, commodities, structured products and
exchange-traded funds. NASDAQ OMX technology supports the operations of over 70
exchanges, clearing organizations and central securities depositories in more
than 50 countries. NASDAQ OMX Nordic and NASDAQ OMX Baltic are not legal
entities but describe the common offering from NASDAQ OMX exchanges in Helsinki,
Copenhagen, Stockholm, Iceland, Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. For more information
about NASDAQ OMX, visit http://www.nasdaqomx.com. *Please follow NASDAQ OMX on
Facebook and Twitter.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The matters described herein contain forward-looking statements that are made
under the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about
NASDAQ OMX's business relationships and offerings. We caution that these
statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ
materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or other
factors beyond NASDAQ OMX's control. These factors include, but are not limited
to factors detailed in NASDAQ OMX's annual report on Form 10-K, and periodic
reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no
obligation to release any revisions to any forward-looking statements.

NDAQG

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CONTACT: The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.
Media Contact:
Bethany Sherman
+1.212.401.8714
Bethany.Sherman@Nasdaq.com