Nasdaq (Nasdaq:NDAQ) announced that its Nasdaq Futures, Inc. (NFX), US-based energy futures market arm, has approved a total of sixteen new Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) as new members, according to a Nasdaq statement.

Nasdaq is a worldwide provider of trading, clearing, exchange technology and listings services. With such a deep suite of services and FCMs, the exchange group has managed to further fortify its position as a market leader.

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In particular, the new FCM members include, ABN AMRO Group, ADM Investor Services, Advantage Futures, Citigroup Global Markets, ED&F Man Capital Markets, Goldman Sachs, INTL FCStone, J.P. Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Mizuho Securities USA, Phillip Capital, Rosenthal Collins Group, Societe Generale, and Wedbush Futures.

According to Joseph M. Guinan, Jr., Chief Executive Officer, Advantage Futures, in a recent statement on the approval, “Nasdaq’s new initiative dramatically reduces clearing and exchange fees. Competition improves markets. NFX benefits clients and Advantage Futures enthusiastically supports this launch.”

“We provide our customers financial products, along with advisory and execution services, to help them access market liquidity, protect margins and manage risk through our access to 31 global derivative exchanges. We are thrilled with the moves Nasdaq is making to provide our customers another channel to manage their energy exposure,” noted Gregory Greves, Managing Director of CES of INTL FCStone Financial Inc.’s FCM Division, in an accompanying statement.

“We are pleased to welcome all of these new members to Nasdaq Futures. We continue to see strong interest from market participants, and we are working with them to facilitate easy access to our markets. The addition of these new members, representing premier FCMs, will facilitate broad customer access and allow firms to manage their trading and hedging needs in a cost-efficient way,” added Magnus Haglind, Vice President and Head of U.S. Commodities, Nasdaq.

Earlier this week, Nasdaq made headlines after Market Prophit, a provider of real-time stock market sentiment analysis of social media conversations, licensed its platform to the Nasdaq’s Market Intelligence Desk.