Nasdaq, Inc.: Form 10-K for the period ended Dec 31, 2025

OVERVIEW

Nasdaq is a leading technology platform that powers the

world’s economies. We architect the infrastructure of the

world’s most modern markets, power the innovation

economy, and build trust in the financial system. We

empower economic opportunity by designing and deploying

the technology, data, and advanced analytics that enable our

clients to capture opportunities, navigate risk, and strengthen

resilience.

We manage, operate and provide our products and services in

three business segments: Capital Access Platforms, Financial

Technology and Market Services.

HISTORY

Nasdaq was founded in 1971 as a wholly-owned subsidiary

of FINRA. Beginning in 2000, FINRA restructured and

broadened ownership in Nasdaq by selling shares to FINRA

members, investment companies and issuers listed on The

Nasdaq Stock Market. In connection with this restructuring,

FINRA fully divested its ownership of Nasdaq in 2006, and

The Nasdaq Stock Market became an independent registered

national securities exchange in 2007.

In February 2008, Nasdaq and OMX AB combined their

businesses, leading to a transformational combination and

expansion of our company from a U.S.-based exchange

operator to a global exchange company offering technology

that powers our own exchanges and markets as well as many

other marketplaces around the world. Further, our

transformation into a leading technology platform that

powers the world’s economies gained momentum with the

2021 acquisition of Verafin, followed by the 2023 acquisition

of Adenza and its two flagship solutions, AxiomSL and

Calypso. The seamless integration of these businesses

allowed us to capitalize on our existing divisional structure,

consolidated by a singular One Nasdaq go-to-market

strategy.

GROWTH STRATEGY

To enable success in the evolving global financial system, we

have established our purpose, vision, and value proposition

together with a focused growth strategy:

Our Purpose: We advance economic progress for all.

Our Vision: We will be the trusted fabric of the world’s

financial system.

Our Value Proposition: We deliver world-leading platforms

that advance the liquidity, transparency, and integrity of the

global economy.

Our Strategy: Our strategic direction is aimed at optimizing

the deployment of resources, human capital, and financial

assets towards our most promising growth opportunities.

These opportunities, which we identified as substantial and

expanding opportunities, included solutions for combating

financial crime, compliance solutions, marketplace

technology, workflow for investment managers and asset

owners as well as insight solutions. Our strengths in

technology, proprietary data, analytics, and capital markets

expertise, in conjunction with our broad client base and

innovative brand has positioned us favorably to meet the

evolving demands of our clientele and deliver in a sustainable

and scalable way.

Through our platforms:

• We architect the world’s most modern markets: Our

platform delivers scalable, interoperable solutions that can

minimize friction, strengthen resilience, and enable market

operators to drive innovation into local market

environments. As a result, we believe our platform delivers

highly advanced market infrastructure, enabling deeper

liquidity and more seamless flows of capital across markets

globally.

• We power the innovation economy: The world’s most

dynamic economies are not defined by geography or size.

They are defined by their ability to transform ideas into

growth and allowing that innovation to scale. Nasdaq sits

at the center of the world’s most dynamic innovation

economies. We provide innovators and investors with the

infrastructure, investment products, and data and insights

that enable innovation to scale and investors to allocate

with confidence.

• We build trust in the financial system: As risk becomes

more pervasive, interconnected, and embedded across the

financial system, the gap between the speed of risk and the

speed of response has widened. Nasdaq’s platform can

deliver intelligent, integrated solutions that help financial

institutions identify and mitigate risk with agility and

precision. From regulatory reporting to compliance and

financial crime management, our platform helps

institutions detect threats early, meet evolving obligations,

and protect the integrity of their operations.

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Capital Access Platforms

Our Capital Access Platforms segment delivers liquidity,

transparency and integrity to the corporate issuer and

investment community by empowering our clients to

effectively navigate the capital markets, achieve their

sustainability goals, and drive governance excellence. We

offer a suite of products to assist companies in managing

corporate governance standards.

Our Capital Access Platforms segment comprises Data &

Listing Services, Index and Workflow & Insights.

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Data & Listing Services

Our North American and European data products enhance

transparency of market activity within our exchanges and

provide critical information to professional and non-

professional investors globally. Our Data business distributes

historical and real-time market data to sell-side customers,

the institutional investing community, retail online brokers,

proprietary trading firms, and other venues, as well as

internet portals and data distributors.

We collect, process, and create information and earn

revenues as a distributor of our own, as well as select third-

party, content. We provide varying levels of quote and trade

information to market participants and to data distributors

who in turn provide subscriptions for this information. Our

systems enable distributors to gain access to our market

depth, order imbalances, market sentiment and other

analytical data.

We distribute this proprietary market information to both

market participants and non-participants through a number of

proprietary products, including Nasdaq TotalView, our

flagship market depth quote product. We offer TotalView

products for The Nasdaq Stock Market and our Nasdaq BX

and Nasdaq PSX markets. We also offer Nordic Equity

TotalView, Nordic Derivatives TotalView and Nordic Fixed

Income TotalView for Nordic markets.

We operate several other proprietary services and data

products to provide market information, including Nasdaq

Basic, a lower cost alternative to the industry Level 1 feed

and Nasdaq Canada Basic, a lower cost alternative to other

data feeds. We also provide various other data, including data

relating to our U.S. equities and options exchanges and

Nordic equities, derivatives, fixed income and futures.

We operate a variety of listing platforms around the world to

provide multiple global capital raising solutions for public

companies. Companies listed on our markets represent a

diverse array of industries including, among others,

healthcare, consumer products, telecommunication services,

information technology, financial services, industrials and

energy. Our main listing markets are The Nasdaq Stock

Market and the Nasdaq Nordic and Nasdaq Baltic exchanges.

Companies seeking to list securities on The Nasdaq Stock

Market may do so on one of the three market tiers: The

Nasdaq Global Select Market, The Nasdaq Global Market, or

The Nasdaq Capital Market. To qualify, companies must

meet minimum listing requirements, including specified

financial and corporate governance criteria. Once listed,

companies must maintain rigorous listing and corporate

governance standards.

As of December 31, 2025, a total of 5,599 companies listed

securities on our U.S., Nasdaq Nordic, Nasdaq Baltic and

Nasdaq First North exchanges. As of December 31, 2025, a

total of 4,480 companies listed securities on The Nasdaq

Stock Market, with 1,316 listings on The Nasdaq Global

Select Market, 1,750 on The Nasdaq Global Market and

1,414 on The Nasdaq Capital Market.

In the U.S., we seek new listings from companies conducting

IPOs, including SPACs, and direct listings as well as

companies looking to switch from alternative exchanges. The

2025 new listings were comprised of the following:

During 2025, we had 20 new listings resulting from operating

companies switching their listings from NYSE or NYSE

American to join The Nasdaq Stock Market as well as 5 ETP

switches, included in ETPs and other listings in the table

above. More than $1,241 billion in global equity market

capitalization switched to The Nasdaq Stock Market in 2025.

We also offer listings on the exchanges that comprise Nasdaq

Nordic and Nasdaq Baltic. For smaller companies and growth

companies, we offer access to the financial markets through

the Nasdaq First North alternative marketplaces. As of

December 31, 2025, a total of 1,119 companies listed

securities on our Nordic and Baltic exchanges.

Our European listing customers include companies, funds

and governments. Customers issue securities in the form of

cash equities, depository receipts, warrants, ETPs,

convertibles, rights, options, bonds or fixed-income related

products. In 2025, a total of 27 new companies listed on our

Nordic and Baltic exchanges.

Index

Our Index business develops and licenses Nasdaq-branded

indices and financial products. License fees for our trademark

licenses vary by product based on a percentage of underlying

assets, dollar value of a product issuance, number of products

or number of contracts traded. We also license cash-settled

options, futures and options on futures on our indices.

As of December 31, 2025, 451 ETPs listed on 27 exchanges

in over 20 countries tracked a Nasdaq index and accounted

for $882 billion in AUM. Our flagship index, the Nasdaq-100

Index, or NDX, includes the top 100 non-financial companies

listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market. More than 100 ETPs

worldwide track Nasdaq-100 core indices, which had $640

billion in assets tracking the indices as of December 31,

2025, or 73% of total AUM.

We provide index data products based on Nasdaq indices.

Index data products include our Global Index Data Service,

which delivers real-time and historical index values

throughout the trading day, and Global Index Watch/Global

Index File Delivery Service, which delivers daily and

historical weightings and components data, corporate actions

and a breadth of additional data for the indices that we

operate.

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Workflow & Insights

Workflow & Insights includes our analytics and corporate

solutions products.

Our analytics products provide asset managers, investment

consultants and institutional asset owners with information

and analytics to make data-driven investment decisions,

deploy their resources more productively, and provide

liquidity solutions for private funds. Through our eVestment

platform, we provide a suite of cloud-based solutions that

help institutional investors and consultants conduct pre-

investment due diligence, and monitor their portfolios post-

investment. The eVestment platform also enables asset

managers to efficiently distribute information about their

firms and funds to asset owners and consultants worldwide.

Our eVestment platform has expanded the scale and reach of

data assets to meet the evolving needs of clients and enhance

the value to asset owners and asset managers, including in the

private markets space, with over 80,000 private funds

covered. In October 2025, we sold our Solovis business, a

financial technology platform offering portfolio monitoring

and analytics tools.

The Nasdaq Fund Network and Nasdaq Data Link are

additional platforms in our suite of investment data analytics

offerings and data management tools. Nasdaq Fund Network

gathers and distributes daily net asset values from over

100,000 funds and other investment vehicles across North

America. Nasdaq Data Link strengthens our position as a

leading source for financial, economic, and alternative

datasets.

Corporate solutions serves both public and private companies

and organizations through our Investor Relations

Intelligence, Governance Solutions and Sustainability

Solutions products. Our public company clients can be

companies listed on our exchanges or other U.S. and global

exchanges. Our private company clients include a diverse

group of organizations ranging from family-owned

companies, government organizations, law firms, privately

held entities, and various non-profit organizations to

hospitals and healthcare systems.

Our Investor Relations Intelligence offerings include a global

team of expert consultants that deliver advisory services

including Equity Surveillance & Shareholder Analysis,

Investor Engagement and Perception Studies, as well as an

industry-leading platform, Nasdaq IR Insight, to investor

relations professionals and executive teams. These solutions

allow investor relations officers and executives to better

manage their investor relations programs, understand their

investor base, target new investors, manage meetings and

consume key data such as investor profiles, equity research,

consensus estimates and news.

Through our Governance Solutions products, we provide an

industry-leading board meeting management platform,

Nasdaq Boardvantage, and advisory services that streamline

the meeting process for board of directors and executive

leadership teams and enable them to accelerate decision

making and strengthen governance.

Our Sustainability Solutions includes consulting services and

purpose built sustainability reporting software. Our advisory

practice helps companies analyze, assess and action best

practices as it relates to their sustainability programs. Nasdaq

Metrio is our cloud-based end-to-end sustainability reporting

platform that enables corporates to collect, measure, disclose

and communicate investor-grade, audited ESG data

efficiently across dozens of raters, rankers and framework

organizations to drive strategic outcomes and attract

investors.

Financial Technology

The Financial Technology segment delivers world leading

platforms that improve the liquidity, transparency and

integrity of the global economy by architecting and operating

the world’s best markets. This segment comprises Financial

Crime Management Technology, Regulatory Technology and

Capital Markets Technology businesses.

We are a leading global technology solutions provider and

partner to exchanges, clearing organizations, central

securities depositories, banks, brokers, buy-side firms and

corporate businesses. Through our Financial Technology

solutions, we power more than 135 marketplaces (including

19 owned and operated by Nasdaq) and regulators, in more

than 55 countries. We serve approximately 3,800 global

clients, including all Global Systemically Important Banks,

or G-SIBs. Our solutions can handle a wide array of assets,

including but not limited to cash equities, equity derivatives,

currencies, various interest-bearing securities, commodities,

energy products and digital currencies.

Financial Crime Management Technology

Financial Crime Management Technology includes our

Nasdaq Verafin solution, which delivers a leading anti-

financial crime platform improving the integrity and

transparency of the financial world. Nasdaq Verafin provides

a cloud-based solution to financial institutions for fraud

detection and management, anti-money laundering and

countering the financing of terrorism compliance and

management, high-risk customer management, sanctions

screening and management, and information sharing.

Nasdaq Verafin has leveraged AI for more than 20 years to

deliver industry-leading financial crime management

solutions, combining deep domain and technical expertise

with consortium data. Nasdaq Verafin's comprehensive

solutions help financial institutions tackle complex problems,

including payments fraud targeting all payment channels.

Our innovative AI-based Targeted Typology Analytics

solution examines a range of behavioral, transactional, third-

party, and consortium insights for more effective detection of

crimes with fewer false positives and high quality results.

Our Nasdaq Verafin solution provides the tools to help more

than 2,750 North American financial institutions, including

G-SIBs, with regulatory compliance as well as detect,

investigate and report money laundering and financial fraud.

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Regulatory Technology

Regulatory Technology includes our AxiomSL and

surveillance solutions.

AxiomSL is a global leader in risk data management and

regulatory reporting solutions for the financial industry,

covering more than 170 regulators in more than 60 countries,

including banks, broker dealers and asset managers. Its

unique enterprise data management platform delivers data

lineage, risk aggregation, analytics, workflow automation,

reconciliation, validation and audit functionality, as well as

disclosures.

AxiomSL’s cloud-enabled and on-premises solutions support

compliance across a wide range of global and local

regulations and deliver solutions and services for financial

regulatory reporting, liquidity, capital and credit, operations,

trade and transaction reporting, and ESG reporting. We also

provide professional services which relate to systems

implementation and integration as well as advisory services.

Our surveillance cloud-enabled and on-premises solution is

designed for banks, brokers and other market participants to

assist in complying with market rules, regulations and

internal market surveillance policies and serves more than

170 clients. We also provide our solution to regulators and

exchanges with a robust platform to manage cross-market,

cross-asset and multi-venue surveillance. This offering

powers surveillance for more than 50 exchanges and 22

regulators.

Capital Markets Technology

Capital Markets Technology includes our Calypso and

market technology solutions as well as trade management

services.

Calypso is a leading cloud-enabled platform providing cross-

asset, front-to-back trading, treasury, risk and collateral

management solutions. The Calypso solution provides

customers with a single platform designed to enable

consolidation, innovation and growth. The platform supports

front, middle and back office activities in exchange-traded

and OTC instruments and supports multiple financial asset

classes and the associated financial instruments. Calypso’s

software application specializes in capital markets,

investment management, risk management, clearing,

collateral, treasury and liquidity management.

The Calypso platform, leveraging modern technology, is

versatile and serves more than 20 central banks and other

customers across different industries, including banks, buy-

side clients, government-sponsored entities and corporate

clients, and can quickly adapt to changing paradigms

including new asset classes, regulations, trading venues, and

trading and processing workflows.

Nasdaq’s market technology solutions are utilized by leading

markets in North America, Europe, Asia, Middle East, Latin

America and Africa. These solutions can handle a wide array

of asset classes, including but not limited to cash equities,

equity derivatives, currencies, various interest-bearing

securities, commodities, energy products and digital

currencies. We continue to develop our business portfolio by

extending and migrating our current offerings to the cloud.

We provide and deliver mission-critical solutions to market

infrastructure operators, which include exchanges, regulators,

clearinghouses and central securities depositories. These

solutions are designed to cover all aspects of a market

operator’s needs, from trading and clearing to risk

management, index development, data, management, testing

and quality assurance.

In addition to serving the market operators in the core capital

markets, there is a demand for mission critical solutions to

enable robust operation of new emerging asset classes such

as crypto currencies and native digital markets. Our market

technology business currently offers its services to several

digital assets exchanges, and the SaaS-based Marketplace

Services Platform provides next-generation marketplace

capabilities spanning the transaction lifecycle to facilitate the

exchange of assets, services and information across various

types of market ecosystems and machine-to-machine

transactions.

Our Capital Markets Technology businesses also provide

complex delivery management and systems integration.

Through our integration services, we can assume

responsibility for projects that involve migration to a new

system and the establishment of entirely new marketplaces.

We also offer operation and support for the applications,

systems platforms, networks and other components included

in an information technology solution, as well as advisory

services.

Our trade management services provide market participants

with a wide variety of alternatives for connecting to and

accessing our markets for a fee. Our marketplaces may be

accessed via a number of different protocols used for

quoting, order entry, trade reporting and connectivity to

various data feeds. WorkX, a web-based, front-end interface

allows market participants to view data, utilize risk

management tools, and submit and review trade reports.

WorkX enables a seamless workflow and enhanced trade

intelligence. In addition, we offer a variety of add-on

compliance tools to help market participants comply with

regulatory requirements.

We provide colocation services to market participants,

whereby we offer firms cabinet space and power to house

their own equipment and servers within our data centers.

Additionally, we offer a number of wireless connectivity

offerings between certain data centers using millimeter wave

and microwave technology.

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Market Services

Our Market Services segment includes our equity derivative

trading and clearing, cash equity trading, fixed income,

currency and commodities trading. We operate 19 exchanges

across several asset classes, including derivatives,

commodities, cash equity, debt, structured products and

ETPs.

We provide trading services in North America and Europe. In

the U.S., we operate six options exchanges: Nasdaq PHLX,

The Nasdaq Options Market, Nasdaq BX Options, Nasdaq

ISE, Nasdaq GEMX and Nasdaq MRX. These exchanges

facilitate the trading of equity, ETF, index and foreign

currency options. Our combined options market share in

2025 represented the largest share of the U.S. market for

multi-listed equity options. Our options trading platforms

provide trading opportunities to retail investors, algorithmic

trading firms and market makers, who tend to prefer

electronic trading, and institutional investors, who typically

require high touch services to execute their trades, which are

often performed on our trading floor in Philadelphia.

We also operate three cash equity exchanges: The Nasdaq

Stock Market, Nasdaq BX and Nasdaq PSX. Our U.S. cash

equity exchanges offer trading of both Nasdaq-listed and

non-Nasdaq-listed securities. The Nasdaq Stock Market is the

largest single venue of liquidity for trading U.S.-listed cash

equities. Market participants include market makers, broker-

dealers, ATSs, institutional investors, and registered

securities exchanges. We also operate a U.S. corporate bond

exchange for the listing of corporate bonds.

Our Market Services segment also includes revenues from

U.S. Tape plans. The plan administrators sell quotation and

last sale information for all transactions, whether traded on

The Nasdaq Stock Market or other exchanges, to market

participants and to data distributors, who then provide the

information to subscribers. After deducting costs, the plan

administrators distribute the tape revenues to the respective

plan participants based on a formula required by Regulation

NMS that takes into account both trading and quoting

activity.

In Canada, we operate an exchange with three independent

markets for the trading of Canadian-listed securities: Nasdaq

Canada CXC, Nasdaq Canada CX2 and Nasdaq Canada

CXD.

In Europe, we operate exchanges in Tallinn (Estonia), Riga

(Latvia) and Vilnius (Lithuania) as Nasdaq Baltic and

exchanges in Stockholm (Sweden), Copenhagen (Denmark),

Helsinki (Finland), and Reykjavik (Iceland) together with the

clearing operations of Nasdaq Clearing, as Nasdaq Nordic.

Collectively, the Nasdaq Nordic and Nasdaq Baltic

exchanges offer trading in cash equities, depository receipts,

warrants, convertibles, rights, fund units and ETFs, as well as

trading and clearing of derivatives and clearing of resale and

repurchase agreements. Our platform allows the exchanges to

share the same trading system, which enables efficient cross-

border trading and settlement, cross-exchange membership

and a single source for Nordic data products. Settlement and

registration of cash equity trading takes place in Sweden,

Finland, and Denmark via the local central securities

depositories. In addition, Nasdaq owns a central securities

depository that provides notary, settlement, central

maintenance and other services in the Baltic countries and

Iceland.

In Europe, Nasdaq Nordic offers trading in derivatives, such

as stock options and futures and index options and futures.

Nasdaq Clearing offers CCP clearing services for stock

options and futures and index options and futures.

Nasdaq Fixed Income, or NFI, provides a wide range of

products and services, such as trading and clearing, for fixed

income products in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland,

Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. Nasdaq is the largest bond

listing venue in the Nordics, with more than 6,000 listed

retail and institutional bonds. In addition, Nasdaq Nordic

facilitates the trading and clearing of Nordic fixed income

derivatives in a unique market structure. Buyers and sellers

agree to trades in fixed income derivatives through bilateral

negotiations and then report those trades to Nasdaq Clearing.

Nasdaq Clearing offers CCP clearing services for fixed-

income options and futures and interest rate swaps. Nasdaq

Clearing also operates a clearing service for the resale and

repurchase agreement market.

Nasdaq Commodities is the brand name for Nasdaq’s

European commodity-related products and services such as

trading and clearing. Nasdaq Commodities’ offerings include

derivatives in power, natural gas and carbon emission

markets and electricity certificates. These products are listed

on Nasdaq Oslo ASA. In January 2025, we entered into an

agreement to transfer existing open positions in our Nordic

power futures business to a European exchange. In June

2025, this transaction was completed and consideration was

received. Migration of open positions are planned to take

place by the end of the first quarter of 2026. We expect to

wind down the commodities clearing and trading services

during the second half of 2026, and the business to be wound

down in the months following.

Nasdaq Oslo ASA is the commodity derivatives exchange for

European products. All trades with Nasdaq Oslo ASA are

subject to clearing with Nasdaq Clearing, which offers CCP

clearing services for commodities options and futures.

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We also own a majority stake in Puro.earth, a Finnish-based

leading platform for carbon removal. Puro.earth offers

engineered carbon removal instruments that are verified and

tradable through an open, online platform. Puro.earth’s

marketplace capabilities add to our suite of sustainability-

focused technologies and workflow solutions and give our

clients further resources to achieve their sustainability

objectives.

Technology and technological strengths

Technology plays a key role in ensuring the growth,

reliability and regulation of financial markets. The strength

and resiliency of our technology in meeting the advancing

demands of our global customer base is vital to the continued

success of our business and distinguishes us from our

competitors. We strive to be a trusted partner to a diverse

range of clients that participate across the global financial

ecosystem.

We have established a technology risk program to evaluate

the resiliency of critical systems, including risks associated

with cybersecurity. This program is focused on identifying

areas for improvement in systems, and implementing changes

and upgrades to technology and processes to minimize future

risk. We have continued our focus on improving the security

of our technology with an emphasis on new tool deployment

for our securities operations team, targeted phishing

campaigns and employee awareness. See “Item 1A. Risk

Factors” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further

discussion.

We are committed to the ethical and responsible use of AI in

our products, services and business operations. Our AI

governance structure aligns the application of AI with our

core values through a framework that addresses the new and

unique risks that AI technology presents, while enabling us to

explore innovation and take advantage of opportunities that

AI presents to better serve our customers, advance our

business objectives and bring value to our shareholders. Our

AI governance framework applies risk management across

AI-related product development and business usage in the

company through a multi-disciplinary approach. The

framework puts into practice Nasdaq’s responsible AI usage

principles and considers the U.S. National Institute of

Standards and Technology AI Risk Management Framework.

It is administered through company-wide policies, procedures

and supporting preventative and detective controls.

We are focused on amplifying the impact that AI has on our

business and in our products. We continue to develop

products and services using AI, including generative AI, and

the use of AI in product development remains a priority for

us in 2026. We are currently leveraging AI to further develop

products and solutions in areas such as investment analytics,

investor relations and fraud and anti-money laundering, as

well as to modernize markets with our AI-powered order

type.

Our Nasdaq Verafin solution leverages data analytics,

machine‑learning techniques and consortium data to support

transaction monitoring, customer risk management and the

identification of financial crime risks across multiple

payment channels. Our solution is designed to support a

range of client needs, from smaller financial institutions

using integrated applications to larger institutions accessing

specific capabilities through APIs. We continue to enhance

the platform with additional automation and AI‑based

capabilities, including agentic AI, to help support operational

efficiency and evolving regulatory and financial crime

requirements.

We also continue to invest in AI to strengthen our AxiomSL

and Calypso solutions. For instance, in our AxiomSL

offering we are embedding advanced AI capabilities, from

generative AI assistants to machine-learning analytics to

enhance user productivity, predictive insights and agility

when handling new regulations. We are embedding AI

capabilities into our Calypso solution that are expected to

directly address the operational and analytical demands of

modern financial institutions.

In our market surveillance business, we currently use and

continue to advance our AI features, machine‑learning

techniques and extensive market data to identify irregular

trading behaviors and potential market abuse across global

asset classes. New enhancements include generative AI tools

that are designed to streamline alert triage and investigative

workflows, supporting improved efficiency and reduced false

positives as market and regulatory demands evolve.

Within our market technology business, we continue to

progress AI deployments to strengthen our Eqlipse platform,

a cloud-native suite that spans the full trade lifecycle -

trading, clearing, CSD, and data intelligence - and serves as

an AI-ready foundation for advanced analytics and

automation.

We believe that our focus on AI to enhance features of our

existing offerings and in the development of new solutions,

together with our significant proprietary data sets and our use

of AI to drive internal operating efficiencies, provides us with

a competitive advantage.

During 2025, Nasdaq continued its shift from traditional on-

premises deployments by utilizing and deploying cloud

infrastructure. We believe that migrating our exchanges and

non-exchange workloads to the cloud, through our

partnership with AWS, will result in improved performance

and increased flexibility for our customers. We expect to

move additional markets to the cloud with AWS during the

next several years. The shift to cloud-based markets enables

Nasdaq to provide its clients access to enhanced capabilities,

including virtual connectivity services, market analytics,

machine learning and AI-driven insights.

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To facilitate the exchange migration to AWS, Nasdaq

continues to leverage its Fusion technology platform. Fusion

positions Nasdaq’s North American and European

derivatives markets to manage, operate and deploy a common

platform that can be used across our nine Nasdaq derivative

markets, while enabling our markets for cloud deployment.

We also expect to continue to leverage the cloud-based

infrastructure for our market technology clients, assisting

such clients in developing their own platforms and

customizing their offerings for their local, rapidly changing

industry dynamics. In 2025, we advanced our partnership

with AWS by introducing a new suite of solutions that are

designed to empower market operators to enhance liquidity,

facilitate capital flows, and drive growth, while upholding the

highest level of performance, security and resilience. The

new blueprint includes infrastructure that places AWS

compute services in close proximity to exchange and trading

systems, with connectivity to AWS Global Regions through

AWS Direct Connect and the AWS global network. We also

introduced, through Nasdaq Eqlipse, an updated suite of

cloud‑ready market technology solutions with standardized

APIs with proven interoperability across the full trade

lifecycle. Nasdaq Eqlipse will also include a new solution,

Nasdaq Eqlipse Intelligence, that includes enhanced data

management, analytics and reporting capabilities that are

specific to market operators’ workflows, and that are

intended to support a broader use of AI and transform how

marketplaces operate.

Additionally, we completed another expansion of our

existing colocation facility to meet the growing demand of

market participants that seek proximity to the Nasdaq trading

systems. Our expanded and enhanced facility is designed to

provide the optimal environment for the next generation of

compute workloads and offer clients access to a wider range

of services and capabilities including liquid cooling.

In 2025, we also expanded our strategic technology

partnership with AWS by providing financial institutions

with the option to deploy Nasdaq Calypso as a fully managed

service on AWS. This deployment model allows institutions

to operate Calypso without maintaining underlying

infrastructure, supports more consistent upgrades, and offers

a unified environment for trading, risk, margin, collateral

management, and related data workflows. The model is

intended to help institutions address evolving regulatory and

operational requirements, streamline technology architecture,

and improve the efficiency of real‑time data processing and

analytics, including the use of AI.

With a continued focus on modernization of our markets,

technology, and in meeting the advancing demands of our

global customer base, in 2025, Nasdaq announced plans to

introduce extended trading hours on the Nasdaq Stock

Market. This initiative, known as Global Trading Hours, will

create a 23-hour trading day, five days a week and is

designed to meet the realities of a connected world while

safeguarding the principles that underpin U.S. markets.

Nasdaq plans to launch this capability in the second half of

2026, subject to regulatory approval. Moreover, in the third

quarter of 2025, Nasdaq filed a proposed rule change with the

SEC to enable the trading of tokenized equity securities and

ETPs on its platform. The proposal represents a step toward

integrating blockchain-based assets into the existing U.S.

equities market infrastructure.

Competition

We are a global, client-focused technology company with

expertise in markets and financial technology. We deploy

robust technology capabilities and have developed innovative

solutions to further address client needs across the financial

ecosystem. Our business segments complement each other

and we believe that our strong competitive position in large,

high-growth markets positions us for sustained growth.

Our Value Proposition

We operate leading platforms that can improve the liquidity,

transparency, and integrity of the global financial ecosystem,

allowing us to:

• Develop efficient and reliable technologies to facilitate and

protect the financial system across asset classes;

• Empower our clients to effectively navigate the capital

markets, achieve their sustainability goals, and maintain

corporate governance excellence; and

• Provide data, tools and insights that drive sound decision

making while complying with evolving regulatory

requirements.

Capital Access Platforms

Our Data business includes proprietary data products.

Proprietary data products are made up exclusively of data

derived from each exchange’s systems. Competition in the

data business is influenced by rapidly changing technology

and the creation of new product and service offerings.

Our proprietary data products face competition globally from

alternative exchanges and trading venues that offer similar

products. Our data business competes with other exchanges

and third-party vendors to provide information to market

participants.

Our Listing Services business in both the U.S. and Europe

provides a means of facilitating capital formation through

public capital markets. There are competing ways of raising

capital, and we seek to demonstrate the benefits of listing

shares on our exchange. Our primary competitor for larger

company stock share listings in the U.S. is NYSE. The

Nasdaq Stock Market competes with local and international

markets located outside the U.S. for listings of equity

securities of both U.S. and non-U.S. companies that choose

to list (or dual-list) outside of their home country. For

example, The Nasdaq Stock Market competes for listings

with exchanges in Europe and Asia. Additionally, we face

competition from private equity firms that may elect to keep

their portfolio companies as private companies.

8

The Listings Services business in Europe is characterized by

a large number of exchanges competing for new or secondary

listings. Each country has one or more national exchanges,

which are often the first choice of companies in each

respective country. For those considering an alternative,

competing European exchanges that frequently attract many

listings from outside their respective home countries include

LSE, Euronext N.V. and Deutsche Börse AG. In addition to

the larger exchanges, companies seeking capital or liquidity

from public capital markets are able to raise capital without a

regulated market listing and can consider trading their shares

on smaller markets and quoting facilities.

Our Index business offers Nasdaq-branded indices and

financial products and faces competition from providers of

various competing financial indices. For example, there are a

number of indices that aim to track the technology sector and

thereby compete with the Nasdaq-100 Index and the Nasdaq

Composite Index. We face competition from investment

banks, dedicated index providers, markets and other product

developers, including S&P Dow Jones Indices, MSCI and

FTSE Russell.

Workflow & Insights includes our analytics and corporate

solutions businesses. Our analytics business faces

competition from a broad array of data and analytics

suppliers, both established firms and small start-ups.

Our corporate solutions business operates in a fragmented

competitive landscape. Exchange operators are expanding

their reach into investor relations, while our Sustainability

and Governance Solutions compete with diverse providers of

software, data, and consulting across evolving markets and

customer segments.

Financial Technology

For our Financial Crime Management Technology and trade

and market surveillance businesses, competitors include core

banking solution providers ranging from small to large,

independent solution providers, FinTech start-ups and in-

house custom builds. We compete against enterprise solution

providers and point solutions for clients with larger AUM.

Competitors also include companies that serve multiple

industries in addition to financial services with generalized

solutions, such as business intelligence tools, data integrators,

investigation platforms and software covering the broader

compliance lifecycle. Moreover, established technology

companies have expanded into financial crime management

by offering specialized solutions incorporating advanced data

analytics, AI and machine learning technologies. The

Financial Crime Management Technology and surveillance

offerings compete on a number of factors, including but not

limited to, increased workflow efficiency, quality of the data,

quality of alerts and pricing.

Competitors to our AxiomSL solutions, which support

financial, statistical and prudential reporting as well as

shareholder disclosures, trade reporting and ESG reporting,

include large independent solution providers, in‑house

solutions at financial institutions and smaller independent

point solution providers. As regulatory reporting becomes

more granular and time‑sensitive, AxiomSL is differentiated

by its ability to operate at speed and scale while maintaining

consistency across functional business domains. In addition,

Nasdaq’s deep, in‑platform AI integration provides

proprietary, domain‑focused capabilities, such as automated

regulatory coding and intelligent anomaly detection, that are

difficult to replicate and support AxiomSL’s competitive

position.

Competitors to our Calypso product, which provides

cross‑asset, front‑to‑back trading, treasury, risk and collateral

management solutions, include enterprise solution providers,

local and regional providers focused on smaller clients, and

point solution providers, such as pricing libraries and

post‑trade service providers. For larger clients, including

global banks, competition also includes internally developed

solutions. Calypso is differentiated by Nasdaq’s

domain‑specific intelligence, proprietary algorithms and deep

product integration, which are designed to support scalability

and continued relevance as competitors increasingly adopt

generic large‑language‑model‑based approaches.

Our market technology business competes with exchange

operators that develop their own technology as well as with

technology providers unaffiliated with exchanges. While

many operators historically relied on internally developed

systems, an increasing number now purchase technology

from third parties to achieve cost efficiencies. As a result,

competition includes both exchange operators and

independent technology providers offering off-the-shelf

solutions for trading, clearing, settlement, depository and

information dissemination, along with customization and

operational expertise. Our partnership with AWS supports

our ability to compete in the development of cloud-based

exchange and market technology solutions. Nasdaq's Eqlipse

platform is differentiated by its AI-native architecture, which

is designed to provide domain-specific, context-aware

intelligence across the trade lifecycle as competitors

increasingly adopt generic large-language-model-based

approaches.

Our trade management services business competes with other

exchange operators, extranet providers, and data center

providers.

Market Services

We face intense competition in North America and Europe.

We seek to provide market participants with greater

functionality, trading system stability and performance, high

levels of customer service, and efficient pricing. In both

North America and Europe, our competitors include other

exchange operators, operators of non-exchange trading

systems and banks and brokerages that operate their own

internal trading pools and platforms.

In the U.S., our options markets compete with exchanges

operated by Cboe Global Markets, Inc., or CBOE, Miami

International Holdings, Inc., or MIAX, Intercontinental

Exchange, Inc., or ICE, Members Exchange, or MEMX, and

BOX Options Market. In the U.S., our cash equities markets

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compete with exchanges operated by Cboe, ICE, MIAX, the

TXSE Group, The Investors Exchange, MEMX and Long

Term Stock Exchange. We also face competition from ATSs,

known as “dark pools,” and other less-heavily regulated

broker-owned trade facilitation systems, as well as from other

types of OTC trading. In Canada, our cash equities exchange

competes principally with exchanges such as the Toronto

Stock Exchange, or TSX.

Our U.S. Tape plans earn revenue from consolidated data

products which are distributed by SEC-mandated

consolidators (one for Nasdaq-listed stocks and another for

NYSE and other-listed stocks) that share the revenue among

the exchanges that contribute data. The consolidated data

business is under competitive pressure from other securities

exchanges that trade Nasdaq-listed securities. In addition,

The Nasdaq Stock Market similarly competes for the tape

fees from the sale of information on securities listed on other

markets.

In Europe, our cash equities markets compete with exchanges

such as Euronext N.V., Deutsche Börse AG, London Stock

Exchange Group plc, or LSE, and many Multilateral Trading

Facilities, or MTFs, such as Cboe, Turquoise and Aquis. Our

competitors in the trading and clearing of options and futures

on European equities include Eurex, Cboe, ICE Futures

Europe and London Clearing House, or LCH. In addition, in

equities markets in Europe, we face competition from other

broker-owned systems, dark pools, Systematic Internalizers,

or SIs, and other types of OTC trading. Competition among

exchanges for trading European equity derivatives tends to

occur where there is competition in the trading of the

underlying equities. In addition to exchange-based

competition, we face competition from OTC derivative

markets.

MiFID II and MiFIR have resulted in further competitive

pressure on our European trading business. SIs are attracting

a significant share of electronically matched volume and

compete aggressively for the trading of equity securities

listed on our Nordic exchanges. Different bilateral trading

systems pursuing block business also remain active in

Europe.

Our European fixed income and commodities products and

services are subject to competitive pressure from European

exchanges and clearinghouses.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

We believe that our IP assets are important for maintaining

the competitive differentiation of our products, systems,

software and services, enhancing our ability to access

technology of third parties and maximizing our return on

research and development investments.

To support our business objectives and benefit from our

investments in research and development, we actively create

and maintain a wide array of IP assets, including patents and

patent applications related to our innovations, products and

services; trademarks related to our brands, products and

services; copyrights in software and creative content; trade

secrets; and through other IP rights, licenses of various kinds

and contractual provisions. We enter into confidentiality and

invention assignment agreements with our employees and

contractors, and utilize non-disclosure agreements with third

parties with whom we conduct business in order to secure

and protect our proprietary rights and to limit access to, and

disclosure of, our proprietary information.

We own, or have licensed, rights to trade names, trademarks,

domain names and service marks that we use in conjunction

with our operations and services. We have registered many of

our most important trademarks in the U.S. and in foreign

countries. For example, our primary “Nasdaq” mark is a

registered trademark that we actively seek to protect in the

U.S. and in over 50 other jurisdictions worldwide.

Over time, we have accumulated a robust portfolio of issued

patents in the U.S. and in many other jurisdictions across the

world. We currently hold rights to patents relating to certain

aspects of our products, systems, software and services, but

we primarily rely on the innovative skills, technical

competence and marketing abilities of our personnel. No

single patent is in itself core to the operations of Nasdaq or

any of its principal business areas.

CORPORATE VENTURE PROGRAM

We operate a corporate venture program to make minority

investments primarily in emerging growth FinTech

companies that are strategically relevant to, and aligned with,

Nasdaq. Investments are made through the venture program

to further our research and development efforts and

accelerate the path to commercial viability. We expect that

capital invested will continue to be modest and will not have

a material impact on our consolidated financial statements,

existing capital return or deployment priorities. Since its

inception in 2017, our venture program has grown in size and

has invested in companies covering various sectors, including

data, analytics and workflow technologies, blockchain and

digital assets, market infrastructure, anti-financial crime, new

marketplaces and enabling technologies. As of December 31,

2025, our investments, which primarily include equity and

convertible debt investments, were valued at $257 million.

SUSTAINABILITY MATTERS

Nasdaq is committed to our long-term governance and

sustainability strategy, advocacy and oversight. We continue

to engage with internal and external stakeholders at all levels

regarding sustainability matters. During 2025, we continued

our corporate, community and commercial sustainability

efforts, including furthering our commitment to climate and

weather-related risk awareness, reducing our environmental

impact, building a workplace culture of inclusivity and

evolving our portfolio of sustainability-related solutions and

services.

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The Nominating & Governance Committee has formal

responsibility and oversight for corporate sustainability

policies and programs and receives regular reports on key

sustainability matters and initiatives. Our Corporate

Sustainability Steering Committee serves as the central

coordinating body for our sustainability strategy; it is co-

chaired by executive leaders and comprised of a cross-

functional group of Nasdaq senior executives.

We continue to be committed to our decarbonization and

climate strategy. We are working towards our short- and

long-term net-zero science-based targets, which were

originally set and validated by the Science Based Targets

initiative in 2022, and updated and validated in 2025 to

reflect Nasdaq's 2023 acquisition of Adenza and the

integration of Adenza's operations into Nasdaq's

environmental program and climate strategy. In 2025, we

were named a CDP A List company for our environmental

programs and transparency. In addition, Nasdaq maintained

industry leading scores from ESG rating agencies, including

a rating of “AA,” from MSCI placing Nasdaq in MSCI’s

“Leaders” category.

Our environmental footprint is relatively small due to the

nature of our business operations. We remain committed to

reducing our environmental impact, focusing on several key

areas, including our energy use, the management of our

workspaces and how we conduct business travel, and

engagement with our value chain. We seek to reduce our

atmospheric carbon emissions and we manage our water use

and the waste associated with our business operations.

We help companies of all maturity levels through our robust

combination of technology, tools, data, insights and capital

market solutions.

Our sustainability-focused solutions are centered around

three strategic pillars to meet our client’s needs in a rapidly

evolving market:

• Regulatory and climate focused Workflows: A powerful,

built-for-purpose sustainability data management platform

with user-friendly workflows for regulation and climate

strategy needs.

• AI-powered Insights: Proprietary insights powered by

trusted data sources and generative AI to provide our users

with a better lens to make faster sustainability decisions.

• In-house Expertise: In-house sustainability expertise

combined with technology to provide full-service support

to organizations navigating global compliance

requirements, while also monitoring the capital markets.

During 2025, we maintained and enhanced our portfolio of

sustainability services and solutions for our clients and

stakeholders.

In 2025, we again requested our existing leading suppliers by

spend to attest to our Supplier Code of Ethics. The Supplier

Code of Ethics, which is available on our website,

encourages our suppliers and vendors to adopt sustainability

and environmental practices in line with our published

Environmental Practices Statement. Additionally, our new

suppliers are required to attest to the Supplier Code of Ethics

in connection with the commencement of their engagement.

REGULATION

We are subject to extensive regulation in the U.S., Canada

and Europe.

U.S. Regulation

U.S. federal securities laws establish a system of cooperative

regulation of securities markets, market participants and

listed companies. SROs conduct the day-to-day

administration and regulation of the nation’s securities

markets under the close supervision of, and subject to

extensive regulation, oversight and enforcement by, the SEC.

SROs, such as national securities exchanges, are registered

with the SEC.

This regulatory framework applies to our U.S. business in the

following ways:

National Securities Exchanges. SROs in the securities

industry are an essential component of the regulatory scheme

of the Exchange Act responsible for providing fair and

orderly markets and protecting investors. The Exchange Act

and the rules thereunder, as well as each SRO’s own rules,

impose many regulatory and operational responsibilities on

SROs, including the day-to-day responsibilities for market

and broker-dealer oversight. Moreover, an SRO is

responsible for enforcing compliance by its members, and

persons associated with its members, with the provisions of

the Exchange Act, the rules and regulations thereunder, and

the rules of the SRO, including rules and regulations

governing the business conduct of its members.

Nasdaq currently operates three cash equity, six options

markets and one corporate bond market in the U.S. We

operate The Nasdaq Stock Market, The Nasdaq Options

Market and the Corporate Bond Market pursuant to The

Nasdaq Stock Market’s SRO license; Nasdaq BX and Nasdaq

BX Options pursuant to Nasdaq BX’s SRO license; Nasdaq

PSX and Nasdaq PHLX pursuant to Nasdaq PHLX’s SRO

license; and Nasdaq ISE, Nasdaq GEMX and Nasdaq MRX,

each of which operates an options market under its own SRO

license. As SROs, each entity has separate rules pertaining to

its broker-dealer members and listed companies, as

applicable. Broker-dealers that choose to become members of

our exchanges are subject to the rules of those exchanges.

All of our U.S. national securities exchanges are subject to

SEC oversight, as prescribed by the Exchange Act, including

periodic and special examinations by the SEC. Our

exchanges also are potentially subject to regulatory or legal

action by the SEC at any time in connection with alleged

regulatory violations. We have been subject to a number of

11

routine reviews and inspections by the SEC or external

auditors in the ordinary course, and we have been and may in

the future be subject to SEC enforcement proceedings. To the

extent such actions or reviews and inspections result in

regulatory or other changes, we may be required to modify

the manner in which we conduct our business, which may

adversely affect our business, operating results and financial

condition.

Section 19 of the Exchange Act provides that our exchanges

must submit to the SEC proposed changes to any of the

SROs’ rules, practices and procedures, including revisions to

provisions of our certificate of incorporation and by-laws that

constitute SRO rules. The SEC will typically publish such

proposed changes for public comment, after which the SEC

may approve or disapprove the proposal, as it deems

appropriate. SEC approval requires a finding by the SEC that

the proposal is consistent with the requirements of the

Exchange Act and the rules and regulations thereunder.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Exchange Act, our

exchanges must file with and seek approval from the SEC

for, among other things, all proposals to change their pricing

structure.

Nasdaq conducts real-time market monitoring, certain equity

surveillance not involving cross-market activity, most options

surveillance, rulemaking, enforcement and membership

functions through our Nasdaq Regulation department. We

review suspicious trading behavior discovered by our

regulatory staff, and depending on the nature of the activity,

may refer the activity to FINRA for further investigation.

Pursuant to regulatory services agreements between FINRA

and our SROs, FINRA provides certain regulatory services to

our markets, including some regulation of trading activity

and surveillance and investigative functions. Our SROs retain

ultimate regulatory responsibility for all regulatory activities

performed under regulatory agreements by FINRA, and for

fulfilling all regulatory obligations for which FINRA does

not have responsibility under the regulatory services

agreements.

In addition to its other SRO responsibilities, The Nasdaq

Stock Market, as a listing market, also is responsible for

overseeing each listed company’s compliance with The

Nasdaq Stock Market’s financial and corporate governance

standards. Our listing qualifications department evaluates

applications submitted by issuers seeking to list their

securities on The Nasdaq Stock Market to determine whether

the quantitative and qualitative listing standards have been

satisfied. Once securities are listed, the listing qualifications

department monitors each issuer’s on-going compliance with

The Nasdaq Stock Market’s continued listing standards.

Broker-dealer regulation. Nasdaq’s broker-dealer

subsidiaries are subject to regulation by the SEC, the SROs

and various state securities regulators. Nasdaq operates three

broker-dealers: Nasdaq Execution Services, LLC, NFSTX,

LLC, and Nasdaq Capital Markets Advisory LLC. Each

broker-dealer is registered with the SEC, a member of

FINRA and registered in the U.S. states and territories

required by the operation of its business. In addition, we own

a minority interest in The NASDAQ Private Market, LLC.

Nasdaq Execution Services operates as our routing broker for

sending orders from Nasdaq’s U.S. cash equity and options

exchanges to other venues for execution. NFSTX is a

registered ATS and acts as an intermediary to facilitate

secondary transactions in certain funds (both registered or not

registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940),

business development companies, certain closed-end funds

and private real estate investment funds. Nasdaq Capital

Markets Advisory, or NCMA, is the distributor of product

and strategy reports for its affiliate, Nasdaq Fund Network.

Nasdaq Fund Network provides a comprehensive pricing,

data, and analytics platform for investment products and

provides coverage of unit investments trusts in product and

strategy reports available to financial professionals and

investors. NCMA submits product and strategy reports to

FINRA’s advertising review department prior to distribution.

NCMA is also the distributor of investment strategy literature

and research reports generated by its affiliate, Nasdaq Dorsey

Wright, or NDW. It performs such functions pursuant to

distribution/selling agreements. NDW is a Registered

Investment Advisor that provides U.S. advisors proprietary

investment strategies and research information. Members of

the NDW sales team are registered with NCMA. This allows

them to market and sell the suite of Dorsey Wright powered

ETPs, along with designated additional ETPs tracking

Nasdaq index-linked strategies, to U.S. based advisors and

receive bonus compensation tied to the growth of those

ETPs. The sales team also sells Nasdaq index-linked ETPs to

institutional investors (such as pensions, endowments, and

foundations) and facilitates seeding for newly launched

Nasdaq index-linked ETPs and receives bonus compensation

tied to revenue generated for Nasdaq from such activities.

Neither NCMA nor NDW offer investment advice to clients.

However, the research arm of NDW has research subscribers.

The research tools are offered to assist financial advisors with

managing their client portfolios and are not deemed

investment advice.

The SEC, FINRA and SROs adopt, and require strict

compliance with, rules and regulations applicable to broker-

dealers. The SEC, SROs and state securities commissions

may conduct administrative proceedings which can result in

censures, fines, the issuance of cease-and-desist orders or the

suspension or expulsion of a broker-dealer, its officers or

employees. The SEC and state regulators may also institute

proceedings against broker-dealers seeking an injunction or

other sanction. All broker-dealers have an SRO that is

assigned by the SEC as the broker-dealer’s Designated

Examining Authority. The Designated Examining Authority

is responsible for examining a broker-dealer for compliance

with the SEC’s financial responsibility rules. FINRA is the

current Designated Examining Authority for each of our

broker-dealer subsidiaries.

Our registered broker-dealers are subject to regulatory

requirements intended to ensure their general financial

soundness and liquidity, which require that they comply with

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certain minimum capital requirements. As of December 31,

2025, each of our broker-dealers were in compliance with

applicable capital requirements.

Regulatory contractual relationships with FINRA. Our SROs

have signed a series of regulatory service agreements

covering the services FINRA provides to the respective

SROs. Under these agreements, FINRA personnel act as our

agents in performing the regulatory functions outlined above,

and FINRA bills us a fee for these services. These

agreements ensure that the markets for which we are

responsible are properly regulated. In conjunction with these

agreements, we also perform certain of these functions

ourselves. In addition, our SROs retain ultimate regulatory

responsibility for all regulatory activities performed under

these agreements by FINRA.

Exchange Act Rule 17d-2 permits SROs to enter into

agreements, commonly called Rule 17d-2 agreements,

approved by the SEC with respect to enforcement of common

rules relating to common members. Our SROs have entered

into several such agreements under which FINRA assumes

regulatory responsibility for various rules or areas covered by

agreements.

Regulation NMS and Options Intermarket Linkage Plan. We

are subject to Regulation NMS for our cash equity markets,

and our options markets have joined the Options Intermarket

Linkage Plan. These are designed to facilitate the routing of

orders among exchanges to create a national market system

as mandated by the Exchange Act. One of the principal

purposes of a national market system is to ensure that brokers

may execute investors’ orders at the best market price. Both

Regulation NMS and the Options Intermarket Linkage Plan

require that exchanges avoid trade-throughs, locking or

crossing of markets and provide market participants with

electronic access to the best prices among the markets for the

applicable cash equity or options order.

In addition, Regulation NMS requires that every national

securities exchange on which an NMS stock is traded and

every national securities association act jointly pursuant to

one or more national market system plans to disseminate

consolidated information, including a national best bid and

national best offer, on quotations for transactions in NMS

stocks, and that such plan or plans provide for the

dissemination of all consolidated information for an

individual NMS stock through a single plan processor.

The UTP Plan was filed with and approved by the SEC as a

national market system plan in accordance with the Exchange

Act and Regulation NMS to provide for the collection,

consolidation and dissemination of such information for

Nasdaq-listed securities. The Nasdaq Stock Market serves as

the processor for the UTP Plan pursuant to a contract through

October 2029. The Nasdaq Stock Market also serves as the

administrator for the UTP Plan. To fulfill its obligations as

the processor, The Nasdaq Stock Market has designed,

implemented, maintained, and operated a data processing and

communications system, hardware, software and

communications infrastructure to provide processing for the

UTP Plan. As the administrator, The Nasdaq Stock Market

manages the distribution of market data, the collection of the

resulting market data revenue, and the dissemination of that

revenue to plan members in accordance with the terms of the

UTP Plan and of Regulation NMS.

Regulation SCI. Regulation SCI is a set of rules designed to

strengthen the technology infrastructure of the U.S. securities

markets. Regulation SCI applies to national securities

exchanges, operators of certain ATSs, market data

information providers and clearing agencies, subjecting these

entities to extensive compliance obligations, with the goals of

reducing the occurrence of technical issues that disrupt the

securities markets and improving recovery time when

disruptions occur. We implemented an inter-disciplinary

program to ensure compliance with Regulation SCI. We have

also created Regulation SCI policies and procedures, updated

internal policies and procedures, and developed an

information technology governance program to ensure

compliance.

Regulation of Registered Investment Advisor Subsidiary. Our

subsidiary Nasdaq Dorsey Wright, or NDW, is an investment

advisor registered with the SEC under the Investment

Advisers Act of 1940. In this capacity, NDW is subject to

oversight and inspections by the SEC. Among other things,

registered investment advisors like NDW must comply with

certain disclosure obligations, advertising and fee restrictions

and requirements relating to client suitability and custody of

funds and securities. Registered investment advisors are also

subject to anti-fraud provisions under both federal and state

law.

CFTC Regulation. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and

Consumer Protection Act resulted in increased CFTC

regulation of our use of certain regulated derivatives

products, as well as the operations of some of our

subsidiaries outside the U.S. and their customers.

Canadian Regulation

Regulation of Nasdaq Canada is performed by the Canadian

Securities Administrators, an umbrella organization of

Canada’s provincial and territorial securities regulators. As a

recognized exchange in Ontario, Nasdaq Canada must

comply with the terms and conditions of its exchange

recognition order. While exempt from exchange recognition

in each jurisdiction in Canada other than Ontario where

Nasdaq Canada carries on business, Nasdaq must also

comply with the terms and conditions of an exemption order

granted by the other jurisdictions in order to maintain its

exemptive status. Oversight of the exchange is performed by

Nasdaq Canada’s lead regulator, the Ontario Securities

Commission.

Nasdaq Canada is subject to several national marketplace

related instruments which set out requirements for

marketplace operations, trading rules and managing

electronic trading risk. Exchange terms and conditions

include but are not limited to, requirements for governance,

regulation, rules and rulemaking, fair access, conflict

management and financial viability.

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European Regulation

Regulation of our markets in the European Union and the

European Economic Area focuses on matters relating to

financial services, listing and trading of securities, clearing

and settlement of securities and commodities, as well as

issues related to market abuse.

We are subject to MiFID II and MiFIR, the European

Union’s Market Abuse Regulation, which primarily affects

our European trading businesses. Many of the provisions of

MiFID II and MiFIR are implemented through technical

standards drafted by the European Securities and Markets

Authority and approved by the European Commission. In

addition, in 2016, the European Union adopted legislation on

governance and control of the production and use of

benchmark indices. The Benchmarks Regulation became

effective in the European Union beginning in 2018, and

Nasdaq was required to comply as of January 1, 2026 in

relation to benchmarks provided by non-European Nasdaq

entities as well as European Nasdaq entities to the extent

these benchmarks fall within the scope of the Benchmarks

Regulation. As the regulatory environment continues to

evolve and related opportunities arise, we intend to continue

developing our products and services to ensure that the

exchanges and clearinghouse that comprise Nasdaq Nordic

and Nasdaq Baltic maintain favorable liquidity and offer fair

and efficient trading.

In addition, proposed rules under MiFID II and MiFIR rules

include provisions potentially impacting various parts of

Nasdaq’s exchanges and data business, including a proposal

to establish a European consolidated tape of pre- and/or post-

trade data.

We are also subject to the Digital Operational Resilience Act,

or DORA. The act applies directly to our European regulated

entities, as well as indirectly to our provision of information

and communications technology services to other European

regulated entities subject to DORA. DORA includes

requirements on risk management procedures, requirements

for procuring information and communication technology

services, and ongoing processes to monitor compliance

The entities that operate trading venues in the Nordic and

Baltic countries are each subject to local regulations. As a

result, we have a strong local presence in each jurisdiction in

which we operate regulated businesses. The regulated entities

have decision-making power and can adopt policies and

procedures and retain resources to manage all operations

subject to their license. In Sweden, general supervision of the

Nasdaq Stockholm exchange is carried out by the SFSA,

while Nasdaq Clearing’s role as CCP in the clearing of

derivatives is supervised by the SFSA and overseen by the

Swedish central bank. Additionally, as a function of the

Swedish two-tier supervisory model, certain surveillance of

the exchange market is carried out by the Nasdaq Stockholm

exchange through its surveillance function.

Nasdaq Stockholm’s exchange activities are regulated

primarily by the SSMA, which implements MiFID II into

Swedish law and which sets up basic requirements for the

board of directors of the exchange and the exchange’s share

capital, and which also outlines the conditions on which

exchange licenses are issued. The SSMA also provides that

any changes to the exchange’s articles of association

following initial registration must be approved by the SFSA.

Nasdaq Clearing holds the license as a CCP under EMIR.

The SSMA requires exchanges to conduct their activities in

an honest, fair and professional manner, and in such a way as

to maintain public confidence in the securities markets. When

operating a regulated market, an exchange must apply the

principles of free access (i.e., that each person which meets

the requirements established by law and by the exchange may

participate in trading), neutrality (i.e., that the exchange’s

rules for the regulated market are applied in a consistent

manner to all those who participate in trading) and

transparency (i.e., that the participants must be given prompt,

simultaneous and correct information concerning trading and

that the general public must be given the opportunity to

access this information). Additionally, the exchange operator

must identify and manage the risks that may arise in its

operations, use secure technical systems and identify and

handle the conflicts of interest that may arise between the

exchange or its owners’ interests and the interest in

safeguarding effective risk management and secure technical

systems. Similar requirements are set up by EMIR in relation

to clearing operations.

The SSMA also contains the framework for both the SFSA’s

supervisory work in relation to exchanges and clearinghouses

and the surveillance to be carried out by the exchanges

themselves. The latter includes the requirement that an

exchange should have “an independent surveillance function

with sufficient resources and powers to meet the exchange’s

obligations.” That requires the exchange to, among other

things, supervise trading and price information, compliance

with laws, regulations and good market practice, participant

compliance with trading participation rules, financial

instrument compliance with relevant listing rules and the

extent to which issuers meet their obligation to submit

regular financial information to relevant authorities.

Due to the underlying EU regulation, the regulatory

requirements in the other Nordic and Baltic countries in

which a Nasdaq entity has a trading venue are similar to the

requirements in Sweden described above. The supervisory

authorities in Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, Finland and

Norway all cooperate to safeguard effective and

comprehensive supervision of the exchanges comprising

Nasdaq Nordic and the systems operated by it, and to ensure

a common supervisory approach.

14

Nasdaq owns a central securities depository known as

Nasdaq CSD SE (Societas Europaea)¸ that provides notary,

settlement, central maintenance and other services in the

Baltic countries and in Iceland. Nasdaq CSD SE is licensed

under the European Central Securities Depositories

Regulation and is supervised by the respective regulatory

institutions.

We operate a licensed exchange, Nasdaq Oslo ASA, in

Norway that trades and lists commodity derivatives.

Although Norway is not a member of the EU, as a result of

the European Economic Area, or EEA, agreement (entered

into between the EU and European Free Trade Association)

the regulatory environment is broadly similar to what applies

in EU member states. Since Norway has adopted legislation

mirroring the provisions of MiFID II and MIFIR, the

regulatory environment in Norway is similar to Sweden. The

Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway supervises the

Norwegian exchange on an autonomous basis and the

Norwegian exchange also has a separate market surveillance

function overseen by the Financial Supervisory Authority.

Following the sale and migration of the commodity

derivatives business to Cassa Di Compensazione e Garanzia

S.p.A. (Euronext Clearing), Nasdaq Oslo ASA is planning to

wind down and cease operations in the second half of 2026.

Once operations have ceased, the relevant licenses of Nasdaq

Oslo ASA will be returned.

Confidence in capital markets is paramount for trading to

function properly. Nasdaq Nordic carries out market

surveillance through an independent unit that is separate from

the business operations. The surveillance work is

conceptually organized into two functions: one for the review

and admission of listing applications and surveillance

activities related to issuers (issuer surveillance) and one for

surveillance of trading (trading surveillance). The real-time

trading surveillance for the Finnish, Icelandic, Danish and

Swedish markets has been centralized in Stockholm. In

addition, there are designated personnel who carry out

surveillance activities at Nasdaq Oslo and the three Baltic

exchanges. In Finland, Sweden and Estonia, decisions to list

new companies on the main market are made by listing

committees that have external members in addition to

members from each respective exchange and in the other

countries the decision is made either by the respective

president of the exchange or by the executive board.

If there is suspicion that a listed company or member has

acted in breach of exchange regulations, the matter is handled

by the respective surveillance department. Serious breaches

are considered by the respective disciplinary committee in

Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden and Norway. Suspected

insider trading is reported to the appropriate authorities in the

respective country.

In the United Kingdom, The Nasdaq Stock Market, Nasdaq

Oslo ASA, Nasdaq Stockholm AB, Nasdaq Copenhagen A/S,

and Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd are each subject to regulation by the

Financial Conduct Authority as “Recognised Overseas

Investment Exchanges.” Nasdaq Clearing is registered as a

recognized third country CCP with the Bank of England

under the temporary recognition regime. The registration

became effective on December 31, 2020 and lasts until

December 31, 2026 (which may be extended further), during

which time Nasdaq Clearing may continue to act as a CCP

vis-a-vis UK members. Nasdaq Clearing has submitted its

application for permanent recognition and is awaiting further

information as to the process and timeline from the Bank of

England.

HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

Nasdaq has continued to strengthen our commitment to, and

investment in, attracting, retaining, developing and

motivating our employees during 2025.

We also continued our efforts to create an inclusive work

environment of equal opportunity, where employees feel

respected and valued for their contributions, and where

Nasdaq and its employees have opportunities to make

positive contributions to our local communities.

Additional information regarding our human capital

management matters can be found in our annual

Sustainability Report, which will be available on our website

later in 2026. Our Sustainability Report and other

information on our website are not incorporated by reference

into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

As of December 31, 2025, Nasdaq had 9,525 full and part-

time employees, including employees of non-wholly owned

consolidated subsidiaries.

Flexible and Hybrid Workplace

The majority of our employees balance their time between

several days in the office and several days working from

home, contributing to a positive work-life balance. In

addition to vacation time, we provide every employee six

paid “flex” days per year, to be used as extra vacation days

for mental health, family time, or any other purpose. We have

found this flexibility has contributed both to our high

engagement scores among current employees, as well as a

positive element in attracting new talent to join Nasdaq.

Talent Management and Development

We continued to increase our efforts in attracting and

retaining our employees. Nasdaq seeks to hire world-class

and innovative talent across the globe.

15

In 2025, our internal employee engagement score, based on

our biannual employee engagement surveys, which most

recently had a 94% participation rate, reached its record high

rating of 81% favorable, with 14% neutral, placing us in the

top 10% of tech companies, according to our survey provider.

Our workforce voluntary attrition rate during 2025 was

approximately 5.6%, which was nearly one percentage point

lower than 2024.

We expanded our leadership development offerings in 2025,

launching the “Elevate: Empowering Leaders. Driving

Impact” strategy and piloting new programs for aspiring and

current managers across multiple regions. Our formal

leadership curriculum was complemented by peer coaching

circles, executive coaching, and the continued Manager

Forum series, facilitated by our Chair and CEO and other

senior leaders. In June 2025, we launched the “Accelerating

Manager Potential” program to drive management excellence

throughout our leadership ranks. More than half of all

managers attended the program in 2025, with the remainder

expected to complete the program in the first half of 2026.

Nasdaq accelerated its adoption of AI and digital tools in

2025. We facilitated workshops, piloted AI-powered agent

solutions, and established our “AI Champions” community.

These efforts further embedded digital skills into our culture

and operations, with a significant portion of employees

participating in AI training and enablement programs.

We maintained our commitment to professional development

by offering access to a wide range of learning opportunities,

including access to multiple eLearning platforms, tuition

assistance, external training sponsorship and mentoring

programs. Our AI-driven Career Hub continued to match

employees to internal training, mentors, projects, and roles,

supporting career satisfaction and internal mobility.

To reward our employees at various stages of their tenure

with Nasdaq, we continued our anniversary recognition

program that, for major milestones, recognition on our

Nasdaq Tower in Times Square. Additionally, our peer-to-

peer employee recognition program rewards employees and

highlights recognized employees on our internal social media

channels, further amplifying the recognition.

Our Employee Culture

At Nasdaq, three pillars guide our employee culture:

Employee Experience, Cultural Alignment, and Business

Integration.

• Employee Experience: We strive to ensure every team

member has access to tools, support, and development so

they can perform at their best. Our focus is on creating a

consistent experience rooted in transparency and opportunity.

• Cultural Alignment: We reinforce the shared values and

behaviors that define how we work, lead, and grow together.

These values are built into how we hire, recognize

contributions, and support one another, fostering a respectful,

collaborative environment.

• Business Integration: We embed inclusive practices into our

everyday operations—from how we make decisions to how

we manage talent. By focusing on objectivity and fairness,

we aim to drive impact at scale while upholding the highest

standards of compliance and integrity.

Workplace Demographics

Our global female employee base in 2025 was approximately

36%. Our minority representation in the U.S., which includes

Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino,

Multiracial, Native American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific

Islander employees, was approximately 33% in 2025.

Gender and Ethnicity Data as of December 31, 2025 are

presented below:

* In the chart above, the Not disclosed percentage includes

employees that have chosen not to disclose and race and

ethnicities that are less than 1.0% of our total employee

headcount.

16

Compensation and Benefits

Our Total Rewards program is designed to attract, retain, and

empower employees to successfully execute our growth

strategy and our mission to better serve our clients. Our

comprehensive Total Rewards program reflects our

commitment to protecting our employees’ health, well-being

and financial security.

Our pay-for-performance compensation programs includes

market-competitive base salaries, annual bonuses or sales

commissions, and equity grants. The majority of our

employees are granted annual, long-term equity awards,

enabling them to be owners of the company, committed to

our long-term success and aligning their interests with the

short-term and long-term interests of our shareholders.

Beyond compensation, we offer a suite of programs, benefits,

perquisites, and resources. Our core benefits include health

(medical, dental, and vision) and risk insurances (life and

disability), retirement plans, and an employee stock purchase

plan. We also offer robust paid time-off benefits which

include vacation, incidental sick days and parental leave. In

addition, all Nasdaq employees, regardless of their location in

any of our global offices, are offered paid time off for key

life events such as bereavement leave and volunteer days.

Our North American employees continue to have access to

our flexible time off policy. These programs, coupled with

our hybrid work schedules, are designed to meet the various

needs of our workforce.

In 2025, we continued to build awareness of our wellness

programs and increase support to our employees through on-

site and virtual events and the launch of Lyra Health, our new

mental health and wellbeing provider. The launch of Lyra

Health provided employees with a number or mental health

workshops and resources. The benefits team also continued

providing “well-being moments,” which are monthly

reminders shared in employee newsletters and town hall

meetings to improve the physical, mental and financial health

of our employees in their personal and professional life.

Community Involvement

Nasdaq’s “Purpose” initiative comprises our philanthropic,

community outreach, entrepreneurial support and employee

volunteerism programs, all designed to leverage our unique

place at the center of capital creation, markets, and

technology and drive stronger economies, more equitable

opportunities and contribute to a more sustainable world.

Through our Purpose@Work Corporate Responsibility

Program, we have committed to supporting the communities

in which we live and work by providing eligible full and part-

time employees with two paid days off per year to volunteer.

We also match charitable donations of all Nasdaq employees

and contractors up to $1,000, or more in certain

circumstances, per calendar year. In 2025, Nasdaq employees

raised over $580,000, including donations and matches,

supporting more than 800 charities worldwide.

During 2025, Nasdaq held its inaugural “Nasdaq Month of

Impact: Empowering Purpose, Strengthening Communities.”

As part of our commitment to driving economic progress,

Nasdaq’s Month of Impact is our way of celebrating and

observing Financial Literacy Awareness Month and Global

Volunteer Month. Combining the core focus areas of

enhancing financial literacy and promoting global

volunteerism enables Nasdaq to create a more significant and

positive impact within our communities.

Additionally, Nasdaq also hosted its third annual Economic

Opportunity Summit, focusing on the theme “Driving

Purposeful Growth,” which convened industry leaders,

researchers, and change-makers to explore how we can

expand access to opportunity, revitalize communities, and

build a more prosperous future for all.

During 2025, the Nasdaq Foundation provided grants to 20

organizations that share our same mission. These grants were

awarded to, among others: Restore NYC, whose

entrepreneurship services support survivors of trafficking in

exploring business ownership as a pathway to economic

independence; The Center on Rural Innovation, which will

help rural entrepreneurs build, test, and implement AI-driven

solutions for their startups; and Maryland Philanthropy

Network, in partnership with Community Wealth Builders,

whose innovative financial empowerment program will

empower the local Baltimore community.

NASDAQ WEBSITE AND AVAILABILITY OF SEC

FILINGS

We file periodic reports, proxy statements and other

information with the SEC. The SEC maintains a website that

contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other

information regarding issuers that file electronically with the

SEC. The address of that site is www.sec.gov (http://www.sec.gov).

Our website is nasdaq.com and our Investor Relations

website is ir.nasdaq.com. Information on these websites are

not a part of this Form 10-K. In addition to these websites,

we use social media to communicate to the public. We

encourage investors and others interested in Nasdaq to review

the information we post on social media channels, as we may

use our Investor Relations website and these other channels

as means of disclosing material information in compliance

with Regulation FD. We make available free of charge on our

website, or provide a link to our SEC filings, including our

Forms 10-K, Forms 10-Q and Forms 8-K and any

amendments to these documents, that are filed or furnished

pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act as

soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file

such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. To access these

filings, go to our website and click on “Financials” then click

on “SEC Filings.”

17

The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only

ones facing us. Additional risks and uncertainties not

presently known to us or that we currently believe to be

immaterial may also adversely affect our business. If any of

the following risks actually occur, our business, financial

condition, or operating results could be adversely affected.

RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS AND

INDUSTRY

Economic conditions and market factors, which are beyond

our control, may adversely affect our business and financial

condition.

Our business performance is impacted by a number of

factors, including general economic conditions, current or

expected inflation, interest rate fluctuations, market volatility,

changes in investment patterns and priorities, regulatory

shifts, pandemics and other factors that are generally beyond

our control. To the extent that global or national economic

conditions weaken and result in slower growth or recessions,

our business may be negatively impacted. Adverse market

conditions could reduce customer demand for our services

and the ability of our customers, lenders and other

counterparties to meet their obligations to us. Poor economic

conditions may result in a reduction in the demand for our

products and services, including data, indices and corporate

solutions, or could result in a decline in the number of IPOs,

reduced trading volumes or values and deterioration of the

economic welfare of our listed companies, which could cause

an increase in delistings. The demand for our Regulatory

Technology, Capital Markets Technology and Financial

Crime Management Technology offerings are primarily

influenced by regulatory changes and the financial strength

and growth plans of our clients at any given time, and such

demand may be adversely affected by economic, political and

geopolitical market conditions.

Trading volumes and values are driven primarily by general

market conditions and declines in trading volumes or values

may affect our market share and impact our pricing. In

addition, our Market Services businesses receive revenues

from a relatively small number of customers concentrated in

the financial industry, so any event that impacts one or more

customers or the financial industry in general could impact

our revenues.

The number of listings on our markets is primarily influenced

by factors such as investor demand, the global economy,

available sources of financing, and tax and regulatory

policies. Adverse conditions or regulatory changes may

jeopardize the ability of our listed companies to comply with

the continued listing requirements of our exchanges, or

reduce the number of issuers launching IPOs, including

SPACs, and direct listings. While the number of IPOs on our

exchanges increased in 2025 as compared to 2024, there is no

assurance that demand for IPOs will continue at the same or

higher rate.

Our Capital Access Platforms segment may be significantly

affected by global economic conditions. Professional

subscriptions to our data products are at risk if staff

reductions occur in financial services companies or if our

customers consolidate, which could result in significant

reductions in our professional user revenue or expose us to

increased risks relating to dependence on a smaller number of

customers. In addition, adverse market conditions may cause

reductions in the number of non-professional investors with

investments in the market and in ETP AUM tracking Nasdaq

indices as well as trading in futures linked to Nasdaq indices.

There may be less demand for our analytics, corporate

solutions, financial technology solutions and risk and

regulatory products and services if global economic

conditions weaken. Our customers historically reduce

purchases of new services and technology when growth rates

decline, thereby diminishing our opportunities to sell new

products and services or upgrade existing products and

services.

Additionally, during a global economic downturn, or periods

of economic, political or regulatory uncertainty, our sales

cycle may become longer or more unpredictable due to

customer budget constraints or unplanned administrative

delays to approve purchases.

A reduction in trading volumes or values, market share of

trading, the number of our listed companies, or demand for

our products and services due to economic conditions or

other market factors could adversely affect our business,

financial condition and operating results.

The industries we operate in are highly competitive.

We face significant competition in our Capital Access

Platforms, Financial Technology and Market Services

segments from other market participants. We face intense

competition from other exchanges and markets for market

share of trading activity and listings as well as from

numerous financial services and technology companies for

our Capital Access Platforms and Financial Technology

products and services. This competition includes both

product and price competition. Our proposed new offerings

to compete in this evolving market, including for the trading

of tokenized equity securities and ETPs and the extension of

trading hours, may not be successful.

The modernization and globalization of world markets has

resulted in greater mobility of capital, greater international

participation in local markets and more competition. As a

result, both in the U.S. and in other countries, the competition

among exchanges and other execution venues has become

more intense. Marketplaces in both U.S. and Europe have

also merged to achieve greater economies of scale and scope.

Changes introduced to Nasdaq's products and services to

compete effectively may be unsuccessful.

18

Regulatory changes also have facilitated the entry of new

participants in the European Union that compete with our

European markets. The regulatory environment, both in the

U.S. and in Europe, is structured to maintain this

environment of intense competition. In addition, a high

proportion of business in the securities markets is becoming

concentrated in a smaller number of institutions and our

revenue may therefore become concentrated in a smaller

number of customers.

We also compete globally with other regulated exchanges

and markets, ATSs, MTFs and other traditional and non-

traditional execution venues. Some of these competitors also

are our customers. Competitors may develop market trading

platforms that are more competitive than ours. Competitors

may leverage data more effectively or enter into strategic

partnerships, mergers or acquisitions that could make their

trading, listings, clearing, data or technology businesses more

competitive than ours.

We face intense price competition in all areas of our

business. In particular, the trading industry is characterized

by price competition. We have in the past lowered prices, and

in the U.S., increased rebates for trade executions to attempt

to gain or maintain market share. These strategies have not

always been successful and have at times hurt operating

performance. Additionally, we have also been, and may once

again be, required to adjust pricing to respond to actions by

competitors and new entrants, or due to new SEC regulations,

which could adversely impact operating results. We also

compete with respect to the pricing of data products and with

respect to products for pre-trade book data and for post-trade

last sale data.

If we are unable to compete successfully in the industries in

which we do business, our business, financial condition and

operating results will be adversely affected.

System limitations or failures could harm our business.

Our businesses depend on the integrity and performance of

the technology, computer and communications systems

supporting them. If new systems fail to operate as intended or

our existing systems cannot expand to cope with increased

demand or otherwise fail to perform, we could experience

unanticipated disruptions in service, slower response times

and delays in the introduction of new products and services.

We could experience a systems failure due to human error by

our employees, contractors or vendors, electrical or

telecommunications failures or disruptions, hardware or

software failures or defects, cyberattacks, sabotage or similar

unexpected events. These consequences could result in

service outages, including to our exchanges, lower trading

volumes or values, financial losses, decreased customer

satisfaction, litigation and regulatory sanctions. Our products,

markets and the markets that rely on our technology have

experienced system failures and delays in the past and we

could experience future system failures and delays.

Although we maintain multiple computer facilities, and

leverage third party cloud providers, that are designed to

provide redundancy and back-up to reduce the risk of system

disruptions and have facilities in place that are expected to

maintain service during a system disruption, such systems

and facilities may prove inadequate. If trading volumes

increase unexpectedly or other unanticipated events occur,

we may need to expand and upgrade our technology,

transaction processing systems and network infrastructure.

We do not know whether we will be able to accurately

project the rate, timing or cost of any volume increases, or

expand and upgrade our systems and infrastructure to

accommodate any increases in a timely manner.

While we have programs in place to identify and minimize

our exposure to technology and communication system

vulnerabilities and work in collaboration with the technology

industry to share corrective measures with our business

partners, we cannot guarantee that such events will not occur

in the future. Any issue that causes an interruption in

services, including to our exchanges; decreases the

responsiveness of our services or otherwise affects our

services could impair our reputation, damage our brand name

and negatively impact our business, financial condition and

operating results.

We must continue to introduce new products, initiatives and

enhancements to maintain our competitive position.

We intend to launch new products and initiatives and

continue to explore and pursue opportunities to strengthen

our business and grow our company. We may spend

substantial time and money developing new products,

initiatives and enhancements to existing products, including,

for example, expanded trading hours on our exchanges. If

these products and initiatives are not successful or their

launches are delayed, we may not be able to offset their costs,

which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial

condition and operating results.

In our technology operations, we have invested substantial

amounts in the development of system platforms, the rollout

of our platforms and the adoption of new technologies,

including cloud-based infrastructure and AI. Although

investments are carefully planned, there can be no assurance

that the demand for such platforms or technologies will

justify the related investments. If we fail to generate adequate

revenue from planned system platforms or the adoption of

new technologies, or if we fail to do so within the envisioned

timeframe, it could have an adverse effect on our results of

operations and financial condition. In addition, clients may

delay purchases in anticipation of new products or

enhancements. We may allocate significant amounts of cash

and other resources to product technologies or business

models for which market demand is lower than anticipated.

In addition, the introduction of new products by competitors,

the emergence of new industry standards or the development

of entirely new technologies to replace existing product

offerings could render our existing or future products

obsolete.

19

A decline in trading and clearing volumes or values or

market share will decrease our trading and clearing

revenues.

Trading and clearing volumes and values are directly affected

by economic, political and market conditions, broad trends in

business and finance, unforeseen market closures or other

disruptions in trading, the level and volatility of interest rates,

inflation, changes in price levels of securities and the overall

level of investor confidence. Over the past several years,

trading and clearing volumes and values across our markets

have fluctuated significantly depending on market conditions

and other factors beyond our control. Because a significant

percentage of our revenues is tied directly to the volume or

value of securities traded and cleared on our markets, it is

likely that a general decline in trading and clearing volumes

or values would lower revenues and may adversely affect our

operating results if we are unable to offset falling volumes or

values through pricing changes. Declines in trading and

clearing volumes or values may also impact our market share

or pricing structures and adversely affect our business and

financial condition.

If our total market share in securities decreases relative to our

competitors, our venues may be viewed as less attractive

sources of liquidity. If our exchanges are perceived to be less

liquid, then our business, financial condition and operating

results could be adversely affected.

Since some of our exchanges offer clearing services in

addition to trading services, a decline in market share of

trading could lead to a decline in clearing and depository

revenues. Declines in market share also could result in issuers

viewing the value of a listing on our exchanges as less

attractive, thereby adversely affecting our listing business.

Finally, declines in market share of Nasdaq-listed securities,

or recently adopted SEC rules and regulations, could lower

The Nasdaq Stock Market’s share of tape pool revenues

under the consolidated data plans, thereby reducing the

revenues of our U.S. Tape plans business.

Our role in the global marketplace positions us at greater

risk for a cyberattack.

Our systems and operations are vulnerable to damage,

misappropriation or disruption from security breaches. Some

of these threats include attacks from foreign governments,

hacktivists, insiders and criminal organizations. Foreign

governments may seek to obtain a foothold in U.S. critical

infrastructure, hacktivists may seek to deploy denial of

service attacks to bring attention to their cause, insiders may

pose a risk of human error or malicious activity and criminal

organizations may seek to profit by gaining control of

company systems or accounts or from stolen data via

ransomware or other means, such as social engineering,

including deepfake scams, compromised business email or

other methods. Our hybrid work model and our global

footprint elevate cybersecurity and operational risks,

particularly in geographies with adversary nation-states and/

or unreliable law enforcement. Given our position in the

global securities industry, we may be more likely than other

companies to be a direct target, or an indirect casualty, of

such events. During periods of war or global geopolitical

uncertainty, cyber threats may increase from foreign

governments or hacktivists to our exchange infrastructure and

offerings, and to our vendors and international employees.

While we continue to employ and invest resources to monitor

our systems and protect our infrastructure, these measures

may prove insufficient due to the continuously evolving

nature of threat activity. Any system issue, whether as a

result of an intentional breach, collateral damage from a

cybersecurity incident involving our supply chain vendors, a

negligent or malicious act by an insider, or the use of AI by

bad actors, including the use of such tools to engage in social

engineering or similar activities, or due to a cybersecurity

breach of a customer that results in a loss of our data or

compromises our systems or those of our other customers

utilizing the same products, could damage our reputation and

result in: a loss of customers; disrupted customer

relationships; the loss of our IP or sensitive data; lower

trading volumes or values, significant liabilities, litigation or

regulatory fines; or otherwise have a negative impact on our

business, our products and services, financial condition and

operating results. A system breach may go undetected for an

extended period of time. There can be no assurance we will

be able to identify and mitigate every incident involving

cybersecurity attacks, breaches or incidents.

Expanded cybersecurity regulations, and increased

cybersecurity infrastructure and compliance costs, may

adversely impact our results of operations.

As cybersecurity threats continue to increase in frequency

and sophistication, and as the domestic and international

regulatory and compliance structure related to information,

cybersecurity, data privacy, resiliency and data usage

becomes increasingly complex and exacting, we may be

required to devote significant additional resources to

strengthen our cybersecurity capabilities, and to identify and

remediate any security vulnerabilities. Compliance with laws

and regulations concerning cybersecurity, data privacy,

resiliency and data usage could result in significant expense,

and any failure to comply could result in proceedings against

us by regulatory authorities or other third parties. Costs for

bolstering cybersecurity capabilities, and increased

cybersecurity and data privacy compliance costs, could

adversely impact our business, financial condition and

operating results. Additionally, our clients increasingly

demand rigorous contractual, certification and audit

provisions regarding cybersecurity, data protection and data

usage, which may also increase our overall compliance

burden and costs in meeting such obligations.

20

The success of our business depends on our ability to keep

up with rapid technological and other competitive changes

affecting our industry. Specifically, we must complete

development of, successfully implement and maintain

platforms that have the functionality, performance,

capacity, reliability and speed required by our business and

our regulators, as well as by our customers.

The markets in which we compete are characterized by

rapidly changing technology, evolving industry and

regulatory standards, frequent enhancements to existing

products and services, the adoption of new services and

products and changing customer demands. We are reliant on

our customers that purchase our on-premises solutions to

maintain a certain level of network infrastructure for our

products to operate and to allow for our support of those

products, and to secure our software and other proprietary

materials stored in such systems, and there is no assurance

that a customer will implement such measures. We may not

be able to keep up with rapid technological and other

competitive changes affecting our industry. For example, we

must continue to enhance our platforms and, where relevant,

our customers', to remain competitive as well as to address

our regulatory responsibilities, and our business will be

negatively affected if our platforms or the technology

solutions we sell to our customers fail to function as

expected. If we are unable to develop our platforms to

include other products and markets, or if our platforms do not

have the required functionality, performance, capacity,

reliability and speed required by our business and our

regulators, as well as by our customers, we may not be able

to compete successfully. Further, our failure to anticipate or

respond adequately to changes in emerging technology and

customer preferences, such as trading and settlement of

tokenized equity securities and ETP's or extended trading

hours on our exchanges, or any significant delays in product

development efforts, could have a material adverse effect on

our business, financial condition and operating results.

Our AI initiatives and the use of AI in certain of our

existing products may be unsuccessful and may give rise to

various risks, which could adversely affect our business,

reputation, or operating results.

We have made, and are continuing to make, significant

investments in AI including generative AI and agentic AI, to,

among other things, develop new products or features for our

existing products, including our anti-financial crime, equity

trading, investor relations, financial reporting, and investment

analytics solutions, and to enhance and refine our internal

business operations. As generative and agentic AI are new

and evolving technologies in the early stages of commercial

use, there are significant risks involved in the development

and deployment of these technologies, and there can be no

assurance that the use of AI will enhance our products or

services or improve our business or operating results. Market

acceptance of generative and agentic AI technologies is

evolving, and we may be unsuccessful in our product

development efforts. Moreover, our AI-related product

initiatives and offerings, or use in our internal business

operations, may give rise to risks related to harmful content,

accuracy, bias, discrimination, autonomous decision-making

or action, IP infringement, the ability to obtain IP protection,

misappropriation or leakage of IP, defamation, data privacy,

and cybersecurity, among others. As we integrate third-party

AI models into our product initiatives and offerings, we face

risks in how such third-party AI models were developed and

deployed, including situations in which the third-party may

lack a proper license or consent for the training data used for

their model, or used insufficient safeguards regarding

harmful content, accuracy, bias or other variables of the data.

The use and availability of third-party AI models in our

solutions may give rise to legal liability, including IP

infringement claims. In addition, these risks include the

possibility of the introduction of new or enhanced laws or

regulations or novel enforcement of existing laws to uses of

AI, for which compliance may be costly and burdensome or

involve changes to our business practices or products,

litigation or other legal liability, or additional oversight,

audits or enforcement under existing laws or regulations. The

use of AI, including third-party AI models used in our

products or solutions, may also give rise to ethical concerns

or negative public perceptions, which may cause brand or

reputational harm. Additionally, our competitors may be

developing their own AI products and technologies, which

may be superior in features or functionality, or cost, to our

offerings. Any of these factors could adversely affect our

business, reputation, or operating results.

Failure to attract and retain key personnel may adversely

affect our ability to conduct our business.

Our future success depends, in large part, upon our ability to

attract and retain highly qualified and skilled professional

personnel that can learn and embrace new technologies. In

the current tight labor market, we have intensified our efforts

to recruit and retain talent. Competition for key personnel in

the various localities and business segments in which we

operate is intense. We have, and may continue to, experience

higher compensation costs to retain personnel, and hire new

talent, that may not be offset by improved productivity,

higher revenues or increased sales. Our ability to attract and

retain key personnel, in particular senior officers, technology

personnel and global talent, including from companies that

we acquire, will be dependent on a number of factors,

including prevailing market conditions, changes in

immigration policy and laws, regulations regarding employee

mobility and international travel, office/remote working

arrangements and compensation and benefit packages offered

by companies competing for the same talent. There is no

guarantee that we will have the continued service of key

employees who we rely upon to execute our business strategy

and identify and pursue strategic opportunities and initiatives.

Our ability to execute our business strategy could be

impaired if we are unable to replace such persons without

incurring significant costs or in a timely manner or at all.

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We are exposed to credit, liquidity and counterparty risks

from our clearinghouse operations and third-party

relationships that could adversely affect our financial

position and results of operations.

Our clearinghouse operations expose us to counterparty and

liquidity risks, including potential defaults by clearing

members and insufficiencies in margins or default funds. We

guarantee cleared contracts and assume counterparty risk for

all transactions cleared through Nasdaq Clearing, including

equity-related and fixed-income derivatives, commodities,

and repurchase agreements. While we enforce minimum

financial criteria for clearing membership eligibility, require

members and investors to provide collateral, and maintain

established risk policies and clearing capital resources, these

measures do not provide absolute assurance against defaults

by our counterparties or financial losses, or that collateral

provided is sufficient at all times.

Additionally, we face credit risk from customers,

counterparties, clearing agents, and transaction and

subscription-based revenues billed in arrears, as these parties

may default due to bankruptcy, lack of liquidity, operational

failure, or other reasons.

The financial distress or failure of counterparties could result

in negative financial impact, reputational harm, regulatory

consequences, litigation or regulatory enforcement actions.

Credit losses such as those described above could adversely

affect our consolidated financial position and results of

operations.

Stagnation or decline in the listings market could have an

adverse effect on our revenues.

The market for listings is dependent on the prosperity of

companies and the availability of risk capital. A stagnation or

decline in the number of new listings, or an increase in the

number of delistings, either due to market factors or our

listing standard changes, on The Nasdaq Stock Market and

the Nasdaq Nordic and Nasdaq Baltic exchanges could cause

a decrease in revenues for future years. A prolonged decrease

in the number of listings, failure of existing SPACs to

successfully complete transactions with target companies and

dissolve or an increase in the number of delistings, could

negatively impact the growth of our revenues. Our corporate

solutions business is also impacted by declines in the listings

market or increases in acquisitions, privatizations or

bankruptcies as there may be fewer publicly-traded

customers that need our products.

RISKS RELATED TO TRANSACTIONAL

ACTIVITIES AND STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIPS

We may not be able to successfully integrate acquired

businesses, which may result in an inability to realize the

anticipated benefits of our acquisitions.

We must rationalize, coordinate and integrate the operations

of our acquired businesses. This process involves complex

technological, operational and personnel-related challenges,

which are time-consuming and expensive and may disrupt

our business. The difficulties, costs and delays that could be

encountered may include:

• difficulties, costs or complications in combining the

companies’ operations, including technology platforms,

security measures and infrastructure or regulatory or legal

non-compliance that may need greater remediation than

anticipated, which could lead to us not achieving the

synergies or efficiencies we anticipate or customers not

renewing their contracts with us as we migrate platforms;

• incompatibility of systems and operating methods;
• reliance on, or provision of, transition services;
• inability to use capital assets efficiently to develop the

business of the combined company and achieve revenue

growth, including cross-sell activity;

• difficulties of complying with government-imposed

regulations in the U.S. and abroad, which may be

conflicting;

• resolving possible inconsistencies in standards, controls,

procedures and policies, business cultures and

compensation structures;

• the diversion of management’s attention from ongoing

business concerns and other strategic opportunities;

• difficulties in operating businesses we have not operated

before;

• difficulties of integrating multiple acquired businesses

simultaneously;

• the retention of key employees and management;
• the implementation of disclosure controls, internal controls

and financial reporting systems at non-U.S. subsidiaries to

enable us to comply with U.S. GAAP and U.S. securities

laws and regulations, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of

2002, required as a result of our status as a reporting

company under the Exchange Act;

• the coordination of geographically separate organizations;
• the coordination and consolidation of ongoing and future

research and development efforts;

• possible tax costs or inefficiencies associated with

integrating the operations of a combined company;

• the retention of strategic partners and attracting new

strategic partners; and

• negative impacts on employee morale and performance as

a result of job changes and reassignments.

22

Foreign acquisitions, or acquisitions involving companies

with numerous foreign subsidiaries, involve risks in addition

to those mentioned above, including those related to

integration of operations across different cultures and

languages, our ability to enforce contracts in various

jurisdictions, currency risks and the particular economic,

political and regulatory risks associated with specific

countries. We may not be able to address these risks

successfully, or at all, without incurring significant costs,

delays or other operating problems that could disrupt our

business and have a material adverse effect on our financial

condition.

For these reasons, we may not achieve the anticipated

financial and strategic benefits from our acquisitions. Any

actual efficiencies and synergies may be lower than we

expect and may take a longer time to achieve than we

anticipate, and we may fail to realize the anticipated benefits

of acquisitions.

We rely on third parties to perform certain functions, and

our business could be adversely affected if these third

parties fail to perform as expected or experience service

interruptions affecting our operations.

We rely on third parties for regulatory, data center, cloud

computing, data storage and processing, connectivity, data

content, clearing, maintaining markets and exchange liquidity

and other services. Interruptions or delays in services from

our third-party providers could impair our services or their

delivery and harm our business. Upon expiration or

termination of any of our agreements with third-party

vendors, we may not be able to replace the services provided

to us in a timely manner or on terms and conditions that are

favorable to us, and a transition from one vendor to another

vendor could be difficult or costly due to the complexity of

our operations.

Certain of our vendors may also be affected by the same

disruptions affecting us, further amplifying the impact of an

outage or service interruption on our offerings. To the extent

that any of our vendors or other third-party service providers

experience difficulties or a significant disruption, breach or

outage, materially changes their business relationship with us

or fails or delays for any reason to perform their obligations,

including due to geopolitical instability, our business or our

reputation may be materially adversely affected.

Our access to cloud service provider infrastructure could be

limited by a number of events, including technical or

infrastructure failures, natural disasters or cybersecurity

attacks. As we continue to grow our SaaS businesses, our

dependency on the continuing operation and availability of

these cloud service providers increases. If our cloud services

from third party providers are unavailable to us for any

reason, or there are cloud service disruptions or a delay or

inability to access our exchanges, platforms or certain of our

cloud products or features, such unavailability or delays may

adversely affect our clients, which could significantly impact

our reputation, operations, business, and financial results.

AWS operates a platform that we use to provide exchange

and other services to our clients, and therefore we are

vulnerable to service outages on the AWS platform that

affect Nasdaq workloads running or stored in the AWS

environment. While certain of our offerings were affected by

the AWS outage in October 2025, the outage did not affect

trading on our exchanges. If AWS does not deliver our

system requirements on time, fails to provide maintenance

and support to our specifications or a migration experiences

integration challenges, the successful migration of the

relevant workload to, or the availability of the relevant

service on, the AWS cloud platform may be significantly

delayed, which may adversely affect our reputation and

financial results.

We also rely on members of our trading community to

maintain markets and add liquidity. To the extent that any of

our largest members experience difficulties, materially

change their business relationship with us or are unable for

any reason to perform market-making activities, our business

or our reputation may be materially adversely affected.

We may be required to recognize impairments of our

goodwill, intangible assets or other long-lived assets in the

future.

Our business acquisitions typically result in the recording of

goodwill and intangible assets, and the recorded values of

those assets may become impaired in the future. As of

December 31, 2025, goodwill totaled $14.4 billion and

intangible assets, net of accumulated amortization, totaled

$6.5 billion. The determination of the value of such goodwill

and intangible assets requires management to make estimates

and assumptions that affect our consolidated financial

statements.

We assess goodwill and intangible assets, as well as other

long-lived assets, including equity method investments,

equity securities, and property and equipment, for potential

impairment on an annual basis or more frequently if

indicators of impairment arise. We estimate the fair value of

such assets by assessing many factors, including historical

performance and projected cash flows. Considerable

management judgment is necessary to project future cash

flows and evaluate the impact of expected operating and

macroeconomic changes on these cash flows. The estimates

and assumptions we use are consistent with our internal

planning process. However, there are inherent uncertainties

in these estimates.

We may experience future events that may result in asset

impairments. Future disruptions to our business, prolonged

economic weakness, due to pandemics or otherwise, or

significant declines in operating results at any of our

reporting units or businesses, may result in impairment

charges to goodwill, intangible assets or other long-lived

assets. A significant impairment charge in the future could

have a material adverse effect on our operating results.

23

Acquisitions, divestments, investments, joint ventures and

other transactional activities may require significant

resources and/or result in significant unanticipated losses,

costs or liabilities.

Over the past several years, acquisitions, have been, or could

be, significant factors in our growth. We have also divested

businesses and may continue to divest additional businesses

or assets in the future. Although we cannot predict our

transactional activities, we believe that additional

acquisitions, divestments, investments, joint ventures and

other transactional activities will be important to our strategy.

Such transactions may be material in size and scope. Our

competitors may have greater financial resources than we

have to pursue certain acquisitions.

We also invest in early-stage companies through our Nasdaq

Ventures program and hold minority interests in other

entities. We generally do not have operational control of

these entities and may have limited visibility into risk

management practices. We may be subject to financial and

reputational risks if there are operational failures at such

companies.

We may finance future transactions by issuing additional

equity and/or debt. The issuance of additional equity in

connection with any such transaction could be substantially

dilutive to existing shareholders. In addition, the

announcement or implementation of future transactions by us

or others could have a material effect on the price of our

common stock. The issuance of additional debt could

increase our leverage substantially. Additional debt may

reduce our liquidity, curtail our access to financing markets,

impact our standing with credit rating agencies and increase

the cash flow required for debt service. Any incremental debt

incurred to finance a transaction could also place significant

constraints on the operation of our business.

Furthermore, any future transactions could entail a number of

additional risks, including:

• the inability to maintain key pre-transaction business

relationships;

• increased operating costs;
• the inability to meet our target for return on invested

capital;

• increased debt obligations, which may adversely affect our

targeted debt ratios;

• changes in our credit rating and financing costs;
• risks to the continued achievement of our strategic

direction;

• risks associated with divesting employees, customers or

vendors when divesting businesses or assets;

• declines in the value of investments;
• exposure to unanticipated liabilities, including after a

transaction is completed;

• incurred but unreported claims for an acquired company;

and

• difficulties in realizing projected efficiencies and

synergies.

RISKS RELATED TO LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL

RESOURCES

A downgrade of our credit rating could increase the cost of

our funding from the capital markets.

Our debt is currently rated investment grade by two of the

major rating agencies. These rating agencies regularly

evaluate us, and their ratings of our long-term debt and

commercial paper are based on a number of factors, including

our financial strength and corporate development activity, as

well as factors not entirely within our control, including

conditions affecting our industry generally. There can be no

assurance that we will maintain our current ratings. Our

failure to maintain such ratings could reduce or eliminate our

ability to issue commercial paper and adversely affect the

cost and other terms upon which we are able to obtain

funding and increase our cost of capital. A reduction in credit

ratings would also result in increases in the cost of our

commercial paper and other outstanding debt as the interest

rate on the outstanding amounts under our credit facilities

and our senior notes fluctuates based on our credit ratings.

Our leverage limits our financial flexibility, increases our

exposure to weakening economic conditions and may

adversely affect our ability to obtain additional financing.

Our indebtedness as of December 31, 2025 was $9.0 billion.

We may borrow additional amounts by utilizing available

liquidity under our existing credit facilities, issuing additional

debt securities or issuing short-term, unsecured commercial

paper notes through our commercial paper program.

Our leverage and reliance on the capital markets could:

• reduce funds available to us for operations and general

corporate purposes or for capital expenditures as a result of

the dedication of a substantial portion of our consolidated

cash flow from operations to the payment of principal and

interest on our indebtedness;

• increase our exposure to a continued downturn in general

economic conditions;

• place us at a competitive disadvantage compared with our

competitors with less debt;

• affect our ability to obtain additional financing in the future

for refinancing indebtedness, acquisitions, working capital,

capital expenditures or other purposes; and

• increase our cost of debt and reduce or eliminate our ability

to issue commercial paper.

In addition, we must comply with the covenants in our credit

facilities. Among other things, these covenants restrict our

ability to effect certain fundamental transactions, dispose of

certain assets, incur additional indebtedness and grant liens

on assets. Failure to meet any of the covenant terms of our

24

credit facilities could result in an event of default. If an event

of default or cross-default occurs, and we are unable to

receive a waiver of default, our lenders may increase our

borrowing costs, restrict our ability to obtain additional

borrowings and accelerate repayment of all amounts

outstanding.

We will need to invest in our operations to maintain and

grow our business and to integrate acquisitions, and we

may need additional funds, which may not be readily

available.

We depend on the availability of adequate capital to maintain

and develop our business. Although we believe that we can

meet our current capital requirements from internally

generated funds, cash on hand and borrowings under our

revolving credit facility and commercial paper program, if

the capital and credit markets experience volatility, access to

capital or credit may not be available on terms acceptable to

us or at all. Rising interest rates could adversely affect our

ability to pursue new financing opportunities, and it may be

more expensive for us to issue new debt securities. Limited

access to capital or credit in the future could have an impact

on our ability to refinance debt, maintain our credit rating,

meet our regulatory capital requirements, engage in strategic

initiatives, make acquisitions or strategic investments in other

companies, pay dividends, repurchase our stock or react to

changing economic and business conditions. If we are unable

to fund our capital or credit requirements, it could have an

adverse effect on our business, financial condition and

operating results.

In addition to our debt obligations, we will need to continue

to invest in our operations for the foreseeable future to

integrate acquired businesses and to fund new initiatives. If

we do not achieve the expected operating results, we will

need to reallocate our cash resources. This may include

borrowing additional funds to service debt payments, which

may impair our ability to make investments in our business

or to integrate acquired businesses.

If we need to raise funds through incurring additional debt,

we may become subject to covenants more restrictive than

those contained in our credit facilities, the indentures

governing our notes and our other debt instruments.

Furthermore, if adverse economic conditions occur, we could

experience decreased revenues from our operations which

could affect our ability to satisfy financial and other

restrictive covenants to which we are subject under our

existing indebtedness.

RISKS RELATED TO LEGAL AND REGULATORY

MATTERS

We operate several of our businesses in highly regulated

industries and may be subject to censures, fines and

enforcement proceedings if we fail to comply with

regulatory obligations that can be ambiguous and can

change unexpectedly.

We operate several of our businesses in highly regulated

industries and are subject to extensive regulation in the U.S.,

Europe and Canada. The securities trading industry is subject

to significant regulatory oversight and could be subject to

increased governmental and public scrutiny in the future that

can change in response to global conditions and events, or

due to changes in trading patterns, such as due to the recent

volatility involving the trading of certain stocks. Recent

domestic and worldwide political developments, including

shifts in digital assets trading policy and regulatory and

enforcement priorities, have added additional uncertainty

with respect to both new laws and regulations and

interpretations or enforcement of existing laws and

regulations. Changes in regulatory policies regarding

tokenized securities, synthetic assets or other digital assets

may enable new market entrants and competitors to offer

these products under a different, less onerous regulatory

regime, which may affect our business, clients and results of

operations.

Our ability to comply with complex and changing regulation

is largely dependent on our establishment and maintenance of

compliance, audit and reporting systems that can quickly

adapt and respond, as well as our ability to attract and retain

qualified compliance and other risk management personnel.

There is no assurance that our policies and procedures will

always be effective or that we will always be successful in

monitoring or evaluating the risks to which we are or may be

exposed.

Our regulated markets are subject to audits, investigations,

administrative proceedings and enforcement actions relating

to compliance with applicable rules and regulations.

Regulators have broad powers to impose fines, penalties or

censure, issue cease-and-desist orders, prohibit operations,

revoke licenses or registrations and impose other sanctions

on our exchanges, broker-dealers, central securities

depositories, clearinghouse and markets for violations of

applicable requirements.

In the future, we could be subject to regulatory investigations

or enforcement proceedings that could result in substantial

sanctions, including revocation of our operating licenses.

Any such investigations or proceedings, whether successful

or unsuccessful, could result in substantial costs, the

diversion of resources, including management time, and

potential harm to our reputation, which could have a material

adverse effect on our business, results of operations or

financial condition. In addition, our exchanges could be

required to modify or restructure their regulatory functions in

response to any changes in the regulatory environment, or

they may be required to rely on third parties to perform

regulatory and oversight functions, each of which may

require us to incur substantial expenses and may harm our

reputation if our regulatory services are deemed inadequate.

The regulatory framework under which we operate and new

regulatory requirements or new interpretations of existing

regulatory requirements could require substantial time and

resources for compliance, which could make it difficult and

costly for us to operate our business.

Under current U.S. federal securities laws, changes in the

rules and operations of our securities markets, including our

25

pricing structure, must be reviewed and in many cases

explicitly approved by the SEC. The SEC may approve,

disapprove, or recommend changes to proposals that we

submit. In addition, the SEC may delay either the approval

process or the initiation of the public comment process.

Favorable SEC rulings and interpretations can be challenged

in and reversed by federal courts of appeals, reducing or

eliminating the value of such prior interpretations. Any delay

in approving changes, or the altering of any proposed change,

could have an adverse effect on our business, financial

condition and operating results.

We must compete not only with non-exchanges, such as

ATSs that are not subject to the same SEC approval

requirements and processes, but also with other exchanges

that may have lower regulation and surveillance costs than

us. There is a risk that trading will shift to exchanges or non-

exchanges that charge lower fees because, among other

reasons, they invest less in regulation.

In 2016, the SEC approved a plan for Nasdaq and other

exchanges to establish a CAT to improve regulators’ ability

to monitor trading activity. Implementation of a CAT has

resulted in significant additional expenditures, including to

implement the costly and complex new technology. In

September 2023, the SEC approved a “Funding Model” for

the CAT that allocated one-third of CAT expenses to the

SROs, including Nasdaq, and two-thirds of CAT expenses to

the industry. This SEC approval order was appealed to the

11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which issued an opinion

in July 2025 vacating the Funding Model. The court's

decision was subject to a temporary stay that expired at the

end of November 2025. As a result, we may be subject to a

delay in recovering expenses or be unable to recover those

expenses. The SROs have yet to seek reimbursement for a

portion of their expenses related to delivery of certain

technology. If the SEC determines that we failed to timely or

properly deliver the technology, we may forfeit recovery of

an undetermined portion of those expenses. As of December

31, 2025, we have an outstanding net receivable of $99

million in connection with our portion of expenses related to

the CAT implementation.

In addition, our registered broker-dealer subsidiaries are

subject to regulation by the SEC, FINRA and other SROs.

These subsidiaries are subject to regulatory requirements

intended to ensure their general financial soundness and

liquidity, which require that they comply with certain

minimum capital requirements. The SEC and FINRA impose

rules that require notification when a broker-dealer’s net

capital falls below certain predefined criteria, dictate the ratio

of debt to equity in the regulatory capital composition of a

broker-dealer and constrain the ability of a broker-dealer to

expand its business under certain circumstances.

Additionally, the SEC’s Uniform Net Capital Rule and

FINRA rules impose certain requirements that may have the

effect of prohibiting a broker-dealer from distributing or

withdrawing capital and requiring prior notice to the SEC and

FINRA for certain withdrawals of capital. Any failure to

comply with these broker-dealer regulations could have a

material adverse effect on the operation of our business,

financial condition and operating results.

Our non-U.S. business is subject to regulatory oversight in all

the countries in which we operate regulated businesses, such

as exchanges, clearinghouses or central securities

depositories. In these countries, we have received

authorization from the relevant authorities to conduct our

regulated business activities. The authorities may issue

regulatory fines or may ultimately revoke our authorizations

if we do not suitably carry out our regulated business

activities. The authorities are also entitled to request that we

adopt measures in order to ensure that we continue to fulfill

the authorities’ requirements. We are also subject to current

and forthcoming regulations applicable to the financial

services sector generally including, but not limited to,

DORA. Such regulations may impact our operational,

contracting and compliance costs by requiring the

implementation of new risk management procedures,

requirements for procuring information and communication

technology services, and ongoing processes to monitor

compliance; failure to maintain compliance may cause us to

be subject to regulatory actions and fines. Additionally, we

are subject to the obligations under the Benchmarks

Regulation ((EU) 2016/1011), compliance with which could

be costly or cause a change in our business practices.

Certain of our customers operate in a highly regulated

industry. Regulatory authorities could impose regulatory

changes that could impact the ability of our customers to use

our exchanges. The loss of a significant number of customers

or a reduction in trading activity on any of our exchanges as a

result of such changes could have a material adverse effect on

our business, financial condition and operating results. In

addition, regulatory changes could impact the ability of

current or prospective customers to procure commercial

services from us, increase our cost of delivery or performance

due to regulatory-driven changes to services or related

business processes and lengthen sales cycles as customers are

required to conduct additional diligence and contracting

processes prior to procuring our services.

Regulatory changes and changes in market structure and

proprietary data could have a material adverse effect on our

business.

Regulatory changes adopted by the SEC or other regulators

with respect to our markets and to the instruments traded on

our markets, and regulatory changes that our markets may

adopt in fulfillment of their regulatory obligations, could

materially affect our business operations. In recent years,

there has been increased regulatory and governmental focus

on issues affecting the securities markets, including market

structure, technological oversight and fees for proprietary

market data, connectivity and transactions. The SEC, FINRA

and the national securities exchanges have introduced several

initiatives to ensure the oversight, integrity and resilience of

markets. Additionally, new market models, new instruments,

and new uses of technology are emerging that could

adversely impact us. Congress and federal regulators are

26

considering regulating digital assets, tokenization of equities,

and prediction markets. The outcome of those deliberations

could adversely impact our current markets and future plans.

Our regulated businesses can be severely impacted by policy

decisions. In September 2024, the SEC adopted a rule that

would significantly reduce the fees that exchanges are

permitted to charge for access to liquidity quoted on the

exchange, with a resulting reduction in the ability of

exchanges to pay rebates to attract liquidity. Nasdaq

petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of

Columbia Circuit to vacate the proposed rule, and in October

2025, Nasdaq's petition for review was denied. The SEC

issued temporary exemptive relief from compliance with the

portions of the rule that Nasdaq challenged until November

2026. Since the rule was not vacated, we will adjust our

business model in accordance with the rule, and the

implementation of the rule in November 2026 may adversely

impact our business and revenue.

In Canada, all new marketplace fees and changes to existing

fees, including trading and market data fees, must be filed

with and approved by the Ontario Securities Commission.

The Canadian Securities Administrators adopted a Data Fees

Methodology that restricts the total amount of fees that can

be charged for professional uses by all marketplaces to a

reference benchmark. Currently, all marketplaces are subject

to annual reviews of their market data fees tying market data

revenues to pre- and post-trade market share metrics.

Permitted fee ranges are based on an interim domestic

benchmark that is subject to change to an international

benchmark, which could lower the permitted fees charged by

marketplaces, which could adversely impact our revenues.

Our European exchanges currently offer market data products

to customers on a non-discriminatory and reasonable

commercial basis. The MiFID II/MiFIR rules entail that the

price for regulated market data such as pre- and post-trade

data shall be based on cost plus a reasonable margin.

However, these terms are not clearly defined. There is a risk

that a different interpretation of these terms may influence

the fees for European market data products adversely. In

addition, any future actions by European Union institutions

could affect our ability to offer market data products in the

same manner as today, thereby causing an adverse effect on

our market data revenues.

We are subject to litigation risks, risks from compliance

obligations and associated enforcement risks, and other

liabilities.

Many aspects of our business potentially involve substantial

liability risks. Although under current law we are immune

from private suits arising from conduct within our regulatory

authority and from acts and forbearances incident to the

exercise of our regulatory authority, this immunity only

covers certain of our activities in the U.S., and we could be

exposed to liability under national and local laws, court

decisions and rules and regulations promulgated by

regulatory agencies.

We face risks related to compliance with economic sanctions

(including those administered by the U.S. Office of Foreign

Assets Control), export controls, corruption (including the

U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act) and money laundering.

While we maintain compliance programs to prevent and

detect potential violations, such programs cannot completely

eliminate the risk of non-compliance. Since our Financial

Crime Management Technology and surveillance solutions

are important offerings, a significant compliance event

involving one of these areas could more negatively impact

our business than a comparable business without this service

offering.

Liability could also result from disputes over the terms of a

trade, claims that a system failure or delay cost a customer

money, claims we entered into an unauthorized transaction or

claims that we provided materially false or misleading

statements in connection with a securities transaction.

Although we carry insurance that may limit our risk of

damages in some cases, we still may incur significant legal

expenses and may sustain uncovered losses or losses in

excess of available insurance that would affect our business,

financial condition and results of operations.

We have self-regulatory obligations and also operate for-

profit businesses, and these two roles may create conflicts

of interest.

We have obligations to regulate and monitor activities on our

markets and ensure compliance with applicable law and the

rules of our markets by market participants and listed

companies. In the U.S., some have expressed concern about

potential conflicts of interest of “for-profit” markets

performing the regulatory functions of an SRO. We perform

regulatory functions and bear regulatory responsibility related

to our listed companies and our markets. Any failure by us to

diligently and fairly regulate our markets or to otherwise

fulfill our regulatory obligations could significantly harm our

reputation, prompt SEC scrutiny and adversely affect our

business and reputation.

Our Nordic and Baltic exchanges monitor trading and

compliance with listing standards in accordance with the

European Union’s Market Abuse Regulation and other

applicable laws. Any failure to diligently and fairly regulate

the Nordic and Baltic exchanges could significantly harm our

reputation, prompt scrutiny from regulators and adversely

affect our business and reputation.

Laws and regulations regarding security and safeguarding

of our systems and services, protection of sensitive customer

data and the handling of personal data and information

may affect our services or result in increased costs, legal

claims or fines against us.

Our business operates certain systems that may be considered

“critical infrastructure” under certain regulations and licenses

or sells certain systems or services to customers that are used

by customers in their role as providers of critical

infrastructure or to fulfill certain core business requirements

or process certain sensitive data. New cybersecurity, privacy,

27

data sovereignty, and resiliency regulations may impact the

requirements and cost of delivery for impacted systems and

services and, in the event of an incident, increase the cost and

complexity of our response and the potential financial and

reputation impact from fines or private litigation. These

regulations may also impact customer decision making and

conditions on contracting for our services.

Our businesses and internal operations rely on the processing

of data in many jurisdictions and the movement of data,

including personal data, across national borders. Legal and

contractual requirements relating to the processing, including,

but not limited to, collection, storage, handling, use,

disclosure, transfer and security, and brokering, of personal

data continue to evolve and regulatory scrutiny and customer

requirements in this area are increasing around the world.

Significant uncertainty exists as privacy and data protection

laws may be interpreted and applied differently across

jurisdictions and may create inconsistent or conflicting

requirements with privacy and other laws to which we are

subject.

Laws and regulations such as the European Union and United

Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation, the California

Privacy Rights Act and other comparable laws and

regulations adopted globally and within the United States and

Canada can apply to our processing of their residents’

personal data by Nasdaq legal entities regardless of the

location of such entities; such laws may also require our

customers located in such jurisdictions to contractually

obligate our compliance.

In addition to directly applying to some of our business

activities, these laws and industry-specific regulations, such

as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, impact many of our

customers, which may affect their decisions to purchase our

services. As a supplier to such customers, regulators may

engage in direct enforcement actions or seek to impose

liability on us if we do not comply with applicable

regulations. Our efforts to comply with privacy and data

protection laws may entail substantial expenses, may divert

resources from other initiatives and projects, and could

impact the services that we offer. The enactment of more

restrictive laws, rules or regulations, future enforcement

actions or investigations, or the creation of new rights to

pursue damages could impact us through increased costs or

restrictions on our business, and noncompliance could result

in regulatory penalties and significant legal liability.

Changes in tax laws, regulations or policies could have a

material adverse effect on our financial results.

Changes in tax laws, regulations, trade policies or other

policies could result in us having to pay higher taxes or

operating expenses, which may reduce our net income, or

could adversely affect our ability to continue our capital

allocation program, purchase additional energy tax credits or

effect strategic transactions in a tax-favorable manner. In

addition, such changes, including federal or state financial

transaction taxes, may increase the cost of our offerings or

services, which may cause our clients to reduce their use of

our services. Any changes to laws, regulations, policies or

other legal restrictions regarding the employment, staffing,

supervision or business activities of international or non-U.S.

citizen employees of U.S. companies may adversely affect

our results of operations.

Some of our subsidiaries are subject to tax in the jurisdictions

in which they are organized or operate, and in computing our

tax obligation in these jurisdictions, we take various tax

positions. We cannot ensure that upon review of these

positions, the applicable authorities will agree with our

positions. A successful challenge by a tax authority could

result in additional taxes imposed on our clients or our

subsidiaries.

RISKS RELATED TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

AND BRAND REPUTATION

Damage to our reputation or brand name could have a

material adverse effect on our businesses.

One of our competitive strengths is our strong reputation and

brand name. Various issues may give rise to reputational risk,

including issues relating to:

• our ability to maintain the security of our data and systems;
• the quality and reliability of our technology platforms and

systems;

• the ability to fulfill our regulatory obligations;
• the ability to execute our business plan, key initiatives or

new business ventures and the ability to keep up with

changing customer demand;

• the representation of our business in the media;
• the accuracy of our financial statements, other financial

and statistical information or sustainability-related

disclosures;

• the accuracy of our financial guidance or other information

provided to our investors;

• the quality of our corporate governance structure;
• the quality of our products the reliability of our solutions

and the accuracy of our information and data offerings;

• the quality of our disclosure controls or internal controls

over financial reporting, including any failures in

supervision;

• extreme price volatility on our markets;
• any negative publicity surrounding our listed companies or

our listing rules;

• any negative publicity surrounding the use of our products

and/or services by our customers, including in connection

with emerging asset classes such as crypto assets; and

• any misconduct, fraudulent activity or theft by our

employees or other persons formerly or currently

associated with us.

28

Negative publicity or misrepresentations by third parties,

particularly on social media, may adversely impact our

credibility as a leader in the global capital markets and as a

source for data and analytics. This may have an adverse

effect on our brands, business and operating results. Damage

to our reputation could cause some issuers not to list their

securities on our exchanges or switch to a different exchange.

Reputational damage may also reduce trading volumes or

values on our exchanges or cause us to lose customers. This

may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial

condition and operating results.

Failure to meet customer expectations or deadlines for the

implementation of our products could result in negative

publicity, losses and reduced sales, each of which may harm

our reputation, business and results of operations.

We generally mutually agree with our customers on the

duration, budget and costs associated with the

implementation of certain of our products, particularly our

market technology large-scale market infrastructure projects.

Various factors may cause implementations to be delayed,

inefficient or otherwise unsuccessful, including due to

unforeseen project complexities, our deployment of

insufficient resources or other external factors. The effects of

a failure to meet an implementation schedule could include

monetary credits for current or future service engagements, a

reduction in fees for the project, or the expenditure of

additional expenses to mitigate such delays. In addition, time-

consuming implementations may also increase the personnel

we must allocate to such customer, thereby increasing our

costs and diverting attention from other projects.

Unsuccessful, lengthy, or costly customer implementation

projects could result in claims from customers, decreased

customer satisfaction, harm to our reputation, and

opportunities for competitors to displace us, each of which

could have an adverse effect on our reputation, business and

results of operations.

Our reputation or business could be negatively impacted by

evolving and conflicting stakeholder expectations regarding

sustainability matters and our reporting of such matters.

We communicate certain sustainability-related initiatives,

goals, and/or commitments regarding environmental matters,

social matters, vendors and suppliers and other matters in our

annual Sustainability Report, Task Force on Climate-related

Financial Disclosures Report, on our website, in our filings

with the SEC and elsewhere. These goals or commitments

could be difficult to achieve and costly to implement.

Stakeholder expectations regarding sustainability matters are

evolving and can be divergent, with some stakeholders

demanding more action and disclosure while others oppose

such efforts. In addition, we could be criticized for the

timing, scope or nature of these initiatives, goals, or

commitments, or for any revisions to them. We could be

subject to litigation or regulatory enforcement actions

regarding the accuracy, adequacy, or completeness of our

sustainability-related disclosures. Our actual or perceived

failure to achieve, or stakeholder dissatisfaction of, our

sustainability-related goals or commitments could negatively

impact our reputation or otherwise materially harm our

business.

Failure to protect our IP rights, or allegations that we have

infringed on the IP rights of others, could harm our brand-

building efforts and ability to compete effectively.

To protect our IP rights, we rely on a combination of

trademark laws, copyright laws, patent laws, trade secret

protection, confidentiality agreements and other contractual

arrangements with our affiliates, clients, strategic partners,

employees and others. However, the efforts we have taken to

protect our IP and proprietary rights might not be sufficient,

or effective, at stopping unauthorized use of those rights. We

may be unable to detect the unauthorized use of, or take

appropriate steps to enforce, our IP rights.

We have registered, or applied to register, our trademarks in

the United States and in over 50 foreign jurisdictions and

have pending U.S. and foreign applications for other

trademarks. We also maintain copyright protection for

software products and pursue patent protection for inventions

developed by us. We hold a number of patents, patent

applications and licenses in the United States and other

foreign jurisdictions. However, effective trademark,

copyright, patent and trade secret protection might not be

available or cost-effective in every country in which we offer

our services and products. Moreover, changes in patent law,

regulation or practices at the U.S. Patent and Trademark

Office and/or analogous offices in other jurisdictions, such as

changes in the law regarding patentable subject matter, could

also impact our ability to obtain patent protection for our

innovations. The scope of protection under our patents may

not be sufficient in some cases, or existing patents may be

deemed invalid or unenforceable. Failure to protect our IP

adequately could harm our brand and affect our ability to

compete effectively. Further, defending our IP rights could

result in the expenditure of significant financial and

managerial resources.

Third parties may assert IP rights claims against us, which

may be costly to defend, could require the payment of

damages and could limit our ability to use certain

technologies, trademarks or other IP. Any IP claims, with or

without merit, could be expensive to litigate or settle and

could divert management resources and attention. Successful

challenges against us could require us to modify or

discontinue our use of technology or business processes

where such use is found to infringe or violate the rights of

others, or require us to purchase licenses from third parties,

any of which could adversely affect our business, financial

condition and operating results.

29

GENERAL RISK FACTORS

We are a holding company that depends on cash flow from

our subsidiaries to meet our obligations, and any

restrictions on our subsidiaries’ ability to pay dividends or

make other payments to us may have a material adverse

effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

As a holding company, we require dividends and other

payments from our subsidiaries to meet cash requirements.

Minimum capital requirements mandated by regulatory

authorities having jurisdiction over some of our regulated

subsidiaries indirectly restrict the amount of dividends that

can be paid upstream.

If our subsidiaries are unable to pay dividends and make

other payments to us when needed, or if regulators or

counterparties require us to increase capital deployed in

certain of our regulated subsidiaries, we may be unable to

satisfy our obligations, which would have a material adverse

effect on our business, financial condition and operating

results.

We may experience fluctuations in our operating results,

which may adversely affect the market price of our common

stock.

Our industry is risky and unpredictable and is directly

affected by many national and international factors beyond

our control, including:

• economic, political and geopolitical market conditions;
• evolving market or customer preferences for solutions

provided locally or outside of the U.S.;

• natural disasters, terrorism, pandemics, war or other

catastrophes;

• broad trends in finance and technology;
• changes in price levels and volatility in the stock markets;
• the level and volatility of interest rates;
• volatility in commodity markets, including the energy

markets;

• inflation;
• disruptions or delays in our supply chains;
• changes in government monetary or tax policy;
• the imposition of governmental economic sanctions or

tariffs, on countries in which we do business or where we

plan to expand our business or sell our products and

services; and

• the perceived attractiveness of the U.S. or European capital

markets.

Any one of these factors could have a material adverse effect

on our business, financial condition and operating results by

causing a substantial decline in the financial services markets

and reducing trading volumes or values.

Additionally, since borrowings under our credit facilities bear

interest at variable rates and commercial paper is issued at

prevailing interest rates, any increase in interest rates on debt

that we have not fixed using interest rate hedges will increase

our interest expense, reduce our cash flow or increase the

cost of future borrowings or refinancings. Other than variable

rate debt, we believe our business has relatively large fixed

costs and low variable costs, which magnifies the impact of

revenue fluctuations on our operating results. As a result, a

decline in our revenue may lead to a relatively larger impact

on operating results. A substantial portion of our operating

expenses is related to personnel costs, regulation and

corporate overhead, none of which can be adjusted quickly

and some of which cannot be adjusted at all. Our operating

expense levels are based on our expectations for future

revenue. If actual revenue is below management’s

expectations, or if our expenses increase before revenues do,

both revenues less transaction-based expenses and operating

results would be materially and adversely affected. Because

of these factors, it is possible that our operating results or

other operating metrics may fail to meet the expectations of

stock market analysts and investors. If this happens, the

market price of our common stock may be adversely affected.

Our operational processes are subject to the risk of error,

which may result in financial loss or reputational damage.

We have instituted extensive controls to reduce the risk of

error inherent in our operations; however, such risk cannot

completely be eliminated. Our businesses are highly

dependent on our ability to process and report, on a daily

basis, a large number of transactions across numerous and

diverse markets. Some of our operations require complex

processes, and the introduction of new products or services or

changes in processes or reporting due to regulatory

requirements may result in an increased risk of errors for a

period after implementation. Additionally, the likelihood of

such errors or vulnerabilities is heightened as we acquire new

products from third parties, whether as a result of

acquisitions or otherwise.

Data, other content or information that we distribute may

contain errors or be delayed, causing reputational harm. Use

of our products and services as part of the investment process

creates the risk that clients, or the parties whose assets are

managed by our clients, may pursue claims against us in the

event of such delay or error, and significant litigation against

us might unduly burden management, personnel, financial

and other resources.

In addition, the sophisticated software we sell to our

customers may contain undetected errors or vulnerabilities,

some of which may be discovered only after delivery, or

could fail to perform its intended purpose. Because our

clients depend on our solutions for critical business functions,

any service interruptions, failures or other issues may result

in lost or delayed market acceptance and lost sales, or

negative customer experiences that could damage our

reputation, resulting in the loss of customers, loss of revenues

and liability for damages, which may adversely affect our

business, operating results and financial condition.

30

Climate and weather related risk may have an adverse

impact on our business, while simultaneously, we face

reputational, regulatory and financial risks related to our

ability to respond to diverse stakeholder expectations and

requirements on climate, weather, and other sustainability-

related topics.

Climate related events, including extreme weather events and

their impact on the critical infrastructure in the U.S. and

elsewhere, have the potential to disrupt our business or the

business of our clients and/or suppliers.

Additionally, there is an increased focus from our regulators,

investors, clients, employees, and other stakeholders

concerning corporate citizenship, greenhouse gas emissions

reduction and sustainability matters, including proposed or

adopted laws, regulations or policies on sustainability-related

topics that diverge from, or potentially conflict with, laws in

other jurisdictions in which we operate. For example, new

laws, regulations and policies are being developed in Europe

and elsewhere globally that may require us to comply with

specific, target-driven frameworks, disclosure and other

requirements in multiple jurisdictions. Changing legal

requirements, policies and stakeholder expectations have

resulted in, and are likely to continue to result in, increased

general and administrative expenses and management time

and attention to comply with, or meet, those regulations and

expectations, which could result in fines or other penalties

and adversely affect our business, reputation, financial

condition and operating results.

Our businesses operate in various international markets,

which are subject to political, economic and social

uncertainties.

Our businesses operate in various international markets,

including but not limited to Northern Europe, the Baltics, the

Middle East, Latin America, Africa and Asia, and our

operations are subject to the risks inherent in the international

economy. Political, economic or social events or

developments in one or more of our non-U.S. locations or in

the U.S. arising from such international developments, such

as limitations imposed on securing new listings on our

exchanges, constraints on data sharing with a U.S. based

company, a reduced interest in providing operational support

between certain regions and the U.S., or restrictions on

entering into transactions with new or existing customers,

could adversely affect our sales, operations and financial

results. We have operations in locations that may be subject

to greater political, economic and social uncertainties than

countries with more developed institutional structures, which

may increase our operational risk.

Unforeseen or catastrophic events could interrupt our

critical business functions. In addition, our U.S. and

European businesses are heavily concentrated in particular

areas and may be adversely affected by events in those

areas.

We may incur losses as a result of unforeseen or catastrophic

events, such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters, pandemics,

extreme weather, fire, power loss, telecommunications

failures, human error, theft, sabotage, vandalism, and other

crime. Given our position in the global capital markets and

our brand, we may be more likely than other companies to be

a target for malicious disruption activities or physical attacks

on our senior leadership team and/or our office locations.

In addition, our business operations are heavily concentrated

in the east coast of the U.S.; Stockholm, Sweden; Vilnius,

Lithuania; and St. John, Canada, among other locations. Any

event that impacts either of those geographic areas could

potentially affect our ability to operate our businesses.

We have disaster recovery and business continuity plans and

capabilities for critical systems and business functions to

mitigate the risk of an interruption. However, any

interruption in our critical business functions or systems

could negatively impact our financial condition and operating

results. Additionally, some of our market services and

financial technology customers may lack adequate disaster

recovery solutions to avoid loss of trade flow from a

sustained interruption of our critical systems.

Because we have operations in numerous countries, we are

exposed to currency risk.

We have operations in the U.S., the Nordic and Baltic

countries, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and many

other foreign countries. We therefore have significant

exposure to exchange rate movements between the Euro,

Swedish Krona, the Canadian dollar and other foreign

currencies against the U.S. dollar. Significant inflation or

disproportionate changes in foreign exchange rates with

respect to one or more of these currencies could occur as a

result of general economic conditions, acts of war or

terrorism, changes in governmental monetary, trade or tax

policy, changes in local interest rates or other factors. These

exchange rate differences will affect the translation of our

non-U.S. results of operations, interest expense and financial

condition into U.S. dollars as part of the preparation of our

consolidated financial statements.

If our risk management methods are not effective, our

business, reputation and financial results may be adversely

affected.

We utilize widely-accepted methods to identify, assess,

monitor and manage our risks. Nasdaq’s Global Risk

Management Committee, which is composed of senior

executives, has the responsibility for overseeing the risk

management methods, regularly reviewing risks and referring

significant risks to the board of directors or specific board

committees. Local risk management committees in our

international offices provide local risk oversight and

escalation to local boards, as appropriate. The rapidly

changing environment may limit the effectiveness of our risk

management methods. Certain risk management methods

require subjective evaluation of dynamic information

regarding markets, customers or other matters. That variable

information may not in all cases be accurate, complete, up-to-

date or properly evaluated. If we do not successfully identify,

assess, monitor or manage the risks to which we are exposed,

31

our business, reputation, financial condition and operating

results could be materially adversely affected.

Decisions to declare future dividends on our common stock

will be at the discretion of our board of directors and there

can be no guarantee that we will pay future dividends to our

stockholders.

Our board of directors regularly declares quarterly cash

dividend payments on our outstanding common stock. The

board’s determination to declare dividends will depend upon

our profitability and financial condition, contractual

restrictions, restrictions imposed by applicable law and other

factors that the board deems relevant. Based on an evaluation

of these factors, the board may determine not to declare

future dividends at all or to declare future dividends at a

reduced amount.

Provisions of our certificate of incorporation, by-laws,

exchange rules (including provisions included to address

SEC concerns) and governing law restrict the ownership

and voting of our common stock. In addition, such

provisions could delay or prevent a change in control of us

and entrench current management.

Our organizational documents place restrictions on the voting

rights of certain stockholders. The holders of our common

stock are entitled to one vote per share on all matters to be

voted upon by the stockholders except that no person may

exercise voting rights in respect of any shares in excess of

5% of the then outstanding shares of our common stock. Any

change to the 5% voting limitation would require SEC

approval.

In response to the SEC’s concern about a concentration of

our ownership, the rules of some of our exchange

subsidiaries include a prohibition on any member or any

person associated with a member of the exchange from

beneficially owning more than 20% of our outstanding voting

interests. SEC consent would be required before any investor

could obtain more than a 20% voting interest in us. The rules

of some of our exchange subsidiaries also require the SEC’s

approval of any business ventures with exchange members,

subject to exceptions.

Our organizational documents contain provisions that may be

deemed to have an anti-takeover effect and may delay, deter

or prevent a change of control of us, such as a tender offer or

takeover proposal that might result in a premium over the

market price for our common stock. Additionally, certain of

these provisions make it more difficult to bring about a

change in the composition of our board of directors, which

could result in entrenchment of current management.

Our certificate of incorporation and by-laws:

• do not permit stockholders to act by written consent;
• require certain advance notice for director nominations and

actions to be taken at annual meetings; and

• authorize the issuance of undesignated preferred stock, or

“blank check” preferred stock, which could be issued by

our board of directors without stockholder approval.

Finally, many of the European countries where we operate

regulated entities require prior governmental approval before

an investor acquires 10% or greater of our common stock.

Risk Management and Strategy

Nasdaq’s brand and role as a critical infrastructure provider

for global financial markets, the operator of The Nasdaq

Stock Market and exchanges, central securities depositories

and a clearinghouse in Europe, and the provider of

information and technology services to banks, international

market operators and exchanges, publicly-traded companies

and other high-profile customers make us an attractive target

for cybersecurity threat actors and attacks. These include

adversarial nations and state-sponsored actors, hacktivists

and ransomware deployers or other financially motivated

criminals. Impacts of a cybersecurity incident may include:

financial and reputational damage, resulting from the loss of

customer confidence in our company, exchange, products or

offerings; potential regulatory enforcement actions; or

litigation, either from governmental authorities, shareholders,

or other litigants, including customers asserting our failure to

comply with contractual obligations. To date, no risks from

cybersecurity threats, including as a result of any previous

cybersecurity incidents, have materially affected or are

reasonably likely to materially affect our business, our

business strategy, our results of operations or financial

condition. For further information, see “Our role in the global

marketplace positions us at greater risk for a cyberattack” and

“Expanded cybersecurity regulations, and increased

cybersecurity infrastructure and compliance costs, may

adversely impact our results of operations” in “Item 1A, Risk

Factors” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Our risk management and mitigation approach includes the

adoption of NIST CSF and NIST 800-53 security control

frameworks and adaptive ongoing threat analysis. In addition,

our Information Security, or InfoSec, team reviews and

conducts a risk assessment of any novel technologies Nasdaq

plans to implement. Our policies and our baseline security

controls incorporate a security infrastructure with multi-

layered defense systems. We have 18 System and

Organization Controls Type 2, or SOC 2, certifications with

respect to our information security and infrastructure. Our

adaptive analysis monitors the threat landscape relevant to

Nasdaq, our vendors and financial industry peers, and threats

arising from geopolitical events. As the external threat

landscape evolves, our information security controls are

regularly evaluated, updated and enhanced to help protect

against emerging risks. Additionally, we conduct extensive

cybersecurity assessments of our acquired entities, both prior

to acquisition and following completion of the transaction, to

understand potential threats and mitigate risks from any

potential deviations between the acquired company’s

practices and Nasdaq’s standards, until we can align the

32

acquired company’s security infrastructure and access

management practices and policies with ours.

We periodically engage external advisors to perform an

independent assessment of the maturity of Nasdaq’s

information security programs, and compare our programs to

our financial and technology industry peers. Nasdaq’s

InfoSec program has demonstrated increasing levels of

maturity year-over-year for every assessed program

component. Recommendations to further enhance our

procedures and maturity ratings from these assessments are

then presented to our executive management team and the

Audit & Risk Committee.

On a periodic basis, our management team and the Board of

Directors conduct tabletop exercises and simulations on

cybersecurity matters, with assistance from internal and

outside experts. These exercises are intended to strengthen

resilience and readiness to address different cybersecurity

incident scenarios.

We use certain cloud-based third-party vendors for the core

trading systems of certain of our exchanges and certain of our

governance products and solutions. Prior to engaging such

vendors, we analyze each provider’s SOC2 certifications,

perform due diligence testing for information security and

interoperability with our systems, and annually review the

SOC2 certifications. Our security assurance and threat

assessment team, within our Information Security

organization, collaborates with our external threat

intelligence providers to proactively review Nasdaq, and our

vendors with respect to emerging threats and associated risks.

For our third-party service providers, our risk assessment

process evaluates the probability and potential impact of

incidents related to operational errors, technology

disruptions, information security breaches, workforce issues,

internal and external fraud, financial actions, and legal and

regulatory matters. This assessment process is part of our

Supplier Risk Management program, which establishes

processes for identifying, assessing, and periodically

reviewing our exposure to risk through third party vendors.

Governance

Cybersecurity is an integral part of risk management at

Nasdaq. The Board of Directors appreciates the rapidly

evolving nature of threats presented by cybersecurity

incidents and is committed to the prevention, timely

detection, and mitigation of the effect any such incidents may

have on us. Our Global Risk Management Committee, which

includes our Chair and CEO and other senior executives,

assists the Board of Directors in its cybersecurity risk

oversight role.

We use a cross-departmental approach to assess and manage

cybersecurity risk, with our Information Security; Legal, Risk

and Regulatory; and Internal Audit functions presenting on

key topics to the Audit & Risk Committee, which provides

oversight of our cybersecurity risk. Additionally, members

from these organizations, along with Finance and

Accounting, Global Technology and Corporate

Communications, comprise a rapid response team that would

mobilize in the event of a potentially significant

cybersecurity incident and would analyze and evaluate the

incident while also advising the executive management team.

Our Audit & Risk Committee receives quarterly or, if

needed, more frequent reports on cybersecurity and

information security matters from our Chief Information

Security Officer, or CISO, and his team. The CISO has more

than 25 years of experience in information technology and

information security, particularly in the financial services

industry, and our InfoSec organization has seasoned

members with expertise in application security; governance

and compliance; program and vulnerability management;

security engineering; security operations security assurance;

and threat intelligence and security architecture.

This regular reporting to the Audit & Risk Committee also

includes a cybersecurity dashboard that contains information

on cybersecurity governance processes, and from time to

time, also includes the status of projects to strengthen internal

cybersecurity, ongoing prevention and mitigation efforts,

security features of the products and services we provide our

customers, or the results of security events during the period.

The Audit & Risk Committee also reviews and discusses

recent cyber incidents affecting the industry and the emerging

threat landscape.

Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility, and our goal is for

all employees to be vigilant in helping to protect our

organization and themselves, at all times. We routinely

perform simulations and tabletop exercises, and incorporate

external resources and advisors as needed, to help strengthen

our cybersecurity protection and information security

procedures and safeguards. All employees are required to

complete annual cybersecurity awareness training and have

access to continuous cybersecurity educational opportunities

throughout the year. All employees also have access to

Nasdaq’s Information Security Hotline, which is staffed on a

24/7 basis to respond to any potential incident; we have a

strict non-retaliation policy that applies to any reporting of

concerns related to our business. Nasdaq also maintains a

cybersecurity and information security risk insurance policy,

and our Nasdaq Information Security Management System

conforms to ISO 27001 requirements and is ISO 27001

certified.

On an annual basis, the Information Security team reviews

and updates its governance documents, including the

Information Security Charter, the Information Security

Policy, and the Information Security Program Plan, and then

presents the revised documents to the Global Risk

Management Committee and Audit & Risk Committee for

review and/or approval. Additionally, the Information

Security team maintains a formal cybersecurity strategic

three-year plan, which outlines the strategic vision and

associated goals for the cybersecurity of our global

operations. The plan is regularly updated with new initiatives

that align with technology innovations and changes in the

threat landscape, and is reviewed and approved by the CISO

33

and the Audit & Risk Committee. Throughout the three-year

plan term, the CISO regularly provides management with

progress reports.

We conduct our business operations in leased facilities. We

do not own any real property. Our U.S. headquarters are

located in New York, New York, and our European

headquarters are located in Stockholm, Sweden. We also

lease space in multiple locations around the world, which are

used for research and development, sales and support, and

administrative activities, as well as for data centers and

disaster preparedness facilities.

Generally, our properties are not allocated for use by a

particular business segment. Instead, most of our properties

are used by two or more segments. We regularly monitor the

facilities we occupy to ensure that they suit our needs in a

hybrid work environment. We believe the facilities that we

occupy are adequate for the purposes for which they are

currently used and are well-maintained. See Note 16,

“Leases,” to the consolidated financial statements for further

discussion.

See “Legal and Regulatory Matters” of Note 18,

“Commitments, Contingencies and Guarantees,” to the

consolidated financial statements for a description of our

legal proceedings, if any.

Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion and analysis of the financial

condition and results of operations of Nasdaq refers to the

year over year comparison for the fiscal years ended

December 31, 2025 and 2024 and should be read in

conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and

related notes included in this Form 10-K, as well as the

discussion under “Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors.” For further

discussion of our growth strategy, products and services, and

competitive strengths, see “Part I, Item 1. Business.” For a

similar discussion comparing the fiscal years ended

December 31, 2024 and 2023, refer to “Part II, Item 7.

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial

Condition and Results of Operations” of our Annual Report

on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024,

which was previously filed with the SEC on February 21,

Certain percentages and per share amounts herein may not

sum or recalculate due to rounding.

EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW

Nasdaq is a leading technology platform that powers the

world’s economies. We architect the infrastructure of the

world’s most modern markets, power the innovation

economy, and build trust in the financial system. We

empower economic opportunity by designing and deploying

the technology, data, and advanced analytics that enable our

clients to capture opportunities, navigate risk, and strengthen

resilience.

We manage, operate and provide our products and services in

three business segments: Capital Access Platforms, Financial

Technology and Market Services.

2025 Highlights

• Nasdaq extended its listing leadership in 2025 and

achieved its seventh consecutive year as the top U.S.

exchange by proceeds raised.

• In 2025, U.S. operating company IPOs on Nasdaq raised

over $24 billion in proceeds. In 2025, Nasdaq set a record

for listing transfers, with $1.2 trillion in annual switches

for the first time including the largest exchange transfer on

record.

• Index achieved record net inflows of $99 billion in 2025,

and exited the year with ETP AUM of $882 billion, an all-

time high. Nasdaq launched 122 new Index products in

2025, with nearly half of the launches being international

products and 32 new products in the institutional insurance

annuity space.

• The Financial Technology segment delivered 14% growth

in ARR and revenue, reflecting an increase in new clients,

cross-sells and upsells.

• Market Services delivered record revenue, reflecting

strength across U.S. cash equities and U.S. equities options

volumes in 2025.

Macroeconomic environment

Our business performance can be positively or negatively

impacted by a number of factors, including general economic

conditions, the geopolitical environment, current or expected

inflation, interest rate fluctuations, the threat or imposition of

broad-based tariffs, market volatility, changes in investment

patterns and priorities, regulatory changes, pandemics and

other factors that are generally beyond our control. For

example, higher overall U.S. trading volumes in 2025 as

compared to 2024 led to an increase in our U.S. equities

options and U.S. cash equities revenues. Market factors also

contributed to higher valuations in Nasdaq Indices, higher

overall volumes in Index derivatives and an improving IPO

landscape. To the extent that global or national economic

conditions weaken and result in slower growth or recessions,

our business may be negatively impacted.

Nasdaq’s Operating Results

The following table summarizes our financial performance

for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the same

period in 2024 and for the year ended December 31, 2024

compared to the same period in 2023. The comparability of

our results of operations between reported periods is

primarily impacted by our acquisition of Adenza in

November 2023. See Note 4, “Acquisition and Divestitures,”

to the consolidated financial statements for further

discussion. For a detailed discussion of our results of

operations, see “Segment Operating Results” below.

(in millions, except per share amounts)

37

In countries with currencies other than the U.S. dollar,

revenues and expenses are translated using monthly average

exchange rates. Impacts on our revenues less transaction-

based expenses and operating income associated with

fluctuations in foreign currency are discussed in more detail

under “Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures

About Market Risk.”

As discussed above, in October 2025, we sold our Solovis

business, previously included in our Capital Access

Platforms segment. Revenues, ARR and quarterly annualized

SaaS revenues related to our Solovis business has been

reclassified to “Other” for all periods presented to facilitate

comparability.

The following chart summarizes our ARR (in millions):

* In the chart above, Other for 4Q23 and 4Q24 includes $25

million and $28 million, respectively.

ARR for a given period is the current annualized value

derived from subscription contracts with a defined contract

value. This excludes contracts that are not recurring, are one-

time in nature, or where the contract value fluctuates based

on defined metrics. ARR is currently one of our key

performance metrics to assess the health and trajectory of our

recurring business. ARR does not have any standardized

definition and is therefore unlikely to be comparable to

similarly titled measures presented by other companies. ARR

should be viewed independently of revenue and deferred

revenue and is not intended to be combined with or to replace

either of those items. For AxiomSL and Calypso recurring

revenue contracts, the amount included in ARR is consistent

with the amount that we invoice the customer during the

current period. Additionally, for AxiomSL and Calypso

recurring revenue contracts that include annual values that

increase over time, we include in ARR only the annualized

value of components of the contract that are considered

active as of the date of the ARR calculation. We do not

include the future committed increases in the contract value

as of the date of the ARR calculation. ARR is not a forecast

and the active contracts at the end of a reporting period used

in calculating ARR may or may not be extended or renewed

by our customers.

The ARR chart includes:

• Capital Access Platforms
• Proprietary market data subscriptions and annual listing fees within our Data & Listing Services business
• Index data subscriptions and guaranteed minimum on futures contracts within our Index business
• Subscription contracts under our Workflow & Insights business
• Financial Technology
• Subscription contracts excluding non-recurring professional services.
• Other includes ARR related to our Solovis business divested in October 2025.

38

The following chart summarizes our quarterly annualized

SaaS revenues for December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023 (in

millions):

* In the chart above, Other for 4Q23 and 4Q24 includes $25

million and $28 million, respectively.

SEGMENT OPERATING RESULTS

The following table presents our revenues by segment:

(in millions)

The following charts present our Capital Access Platforms,

Financial Technology and Market Services segments as a

percentage of our total revenues, less transaction-based

expenses.

Capital Access Platforms

The following tables present revenues and ARR from our

Capital Access Platforms segment:

(in millions)

39

Data & Listing Services Revenues

The following tables present key drivers from our Data &

Listing Services business:

In the tables above:

• The number of total listed companies on The Nasdaq Stock

Market for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and

2023 included 1,112, 768 and 600 ETPs, respectively.

• IPOs, new listings (which includes IPOs) and total listed

companies for exchanges that comprise Nasdaq Nordic and

Nasdaq Baltic represent companies listed on the Nasdaq

Nordic and Nasdaq Baltic exchanges and companies listed

on the alternative markets of Nasdaq First North.

Data & Listing Services revenues increased for the year

ended December 31, 2025 compared with the same period in

2024 due to new data sales, usage and pricing, increased

annual listings revenues due to new listings and the favorable

impact from changes in foreign currency rates, partially

offset by delistings.

Index Revenues

The following table presents key drivers from our Index

business:

In the table above, TTM represents trailing twelve months.

Index revenues increased for the year ended December 31,

2025 compared with the same period in 2024 primarily due

to higher average AUM in exchange traded products linked

to Nasdaq indices and growth in trading volumes. The

increase in 2025 is partially offset by a $16 million one-time

item recognized in the first quarter of 2024 related to a legal

settlement to recoup revenue.

Workflow & Insights Revenues

The following table presents key drivers from our Workflow

& Insights business:

(in millions)

Workflow & Insights revenues increased for the year ended

December 31, 2025 compared with the same period in 2024

primarily due to an increase in analytics revenues, largely

driven by eVestment and Nasdaq Data Link sales growth.

40

Financial Technology

The following table presents revenues from our Financial

Technology segment:

(in millions)

Financial Crime Management Technology Revenues

The following table presents key drivers for our Financial

Crime Management Technology business:

(in millions)

Financial Crime Management Technology revenues

increased for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared

with the same period in 2024 primarily due to higher

subscription revenues from new and existing clients and

higher professional services fees.

Regulatory Technology Revenues

The following table presents key drivers for our Regulatory

Technology business:

(in millions)

Regulatory Technology revenues increased for the year

ended December 31, 2025 compared with the same period in

2024 primarily due to increased subscription revenues from

our AxiomSL and Surveillance solutions driven by new sales

and price increases to existing clients and revenue from new

clients. The increase was also driven by a one-time revenue

reduction recognized in the third quarter of 2024 related to a

purchase accounting adjustment. See Note 3, “Revenue from

Contracts with Customers,” to the consolidated financial

statements for discussion on the measurement period

adjustment.

Capital Markets Technology Revenues

The following table presents key drivers for our Capital

Markets Technology business:

(in millions)

Capital Markets Technology revenues increased for the year

ended December 31, 2025 compared with the same period in

2024. The increase was primarily due to higher revenues

related to data center growth and higher subscription

revenues from new sales and price increases to existing

clients.

Market Services

The following table presents revenues from our Market

Services segment:

(in millions)

The following table presents net revenues by product from

our Market Services segment:

(in millions)

In the preceding tables, Other includes Nordic fixed income

trading & clearing, Nordic derivatives and Canadian cash

equities trading.

41

U.S. Equity Derivative Trading

The following tables present total revenues, transaction-based

expenses, and total revenues less transaction-based expenses

as well as key drivers from our U.S. Equity Derivative

Trading business:

(in millions)

Section 31 fees are recorded as U.S. equity derivative and

U.S. cash equity trading revenues with a corresponding

amount recorded in transaction-based expenses. We are

assessed these fees from the SEC and pass them through to

our customers in the form of incremental fees. Pass-through

fees can increase or decrease due to rate changes by the SEC,

our percentage of the overall industry volumes processed on

our systems, and differences in actual dollar value traded.

Section 31 fees decreased in 2025 compared with the same

period in 2024 primarily due to a decrease in the rate to zero

in the second quarter of 2025. Since the amount recorded in

revenues is equal to the amount recorded as Section 31 fees,

there is no impact on our net revenues.

U.S. equity derivative trading revenues and U.S. equity

derivative trading revenues, net increased for the year ended

December 31, 2025 compared with the same period in 2024

primarily due to higher industry trading volumes, partially

offset by lower capture and lower overall U.S. matched

market share executed on Nasdaq’s exchanges.

Transaction rebates, in which we credit a portion of the

execution charge to the market participant, increased for the

year ended December 31, 2025 compared with the same

period in 2024 primarily due to higher industry trading

volumes, partially offset by lower rebate capture rate and

lower overall U.S. matched market share executed on

Nasdaq’s exchanges.

Cash Equity Trading Revenues

The following tables present total revenues, transaction-based

expenses, and total revenues less transaction-based expenses

as well as key drivers and other metrics from our Cash Equity

Trading business:

(in millions)

See the discussion above for an explanation of Section 31

fees for the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared with

the same period in 2024.

42

Cash equity trading revenues and cash equity trading

revenues, net increased for the year ended December 31,

2025 compared with the same period in 2024 primarily due

to higher U.S. and European industry trading volumes,

partially offset by lower overall U.S. matched market share

executed on Nasdaq's exchanges. Cash equity trading

revenues, net was also partially offset by lower capture.

Transaction rebates increased for the year ended December

31, 2025 compared with the same period in 2024 primarily

due to higher U.S. industry volumes and higher capture,

partially offset by lower overall U.S. matched market share

executed on Nasdaq’s exchanges. For The Nasdaq Stock

Market and Nasdaq PSX, we credit a portion of the per share

execution charge to the market participant that provides the

liquidity, and for Nasdaq BX, we credit a portion of the per

share execution charge to the market participant that takes the

liquidity.

U.S. Tape Plans

The following table presents revenues from our U.S. Tape

plans business:

(in millions)

U.S. Tape plans revenues increased for the year ended

December 31, 2025 compared with the same period in 2024

primarily due to higher market share, higher usage volume

and higher one-time industry-wide adjustments.

Other

Other includes Nordic fixed income trading and clearing,

Nordic derivatives and Canadian cash equities trading. The

following table presents revenues from our Other business:

(in millions)

In the preceding tables, Other is presented net of Canadian

cash equity transaction rebates of $29 million, $22 million

and $20 million for the years ended December 31, 2025,

2024 and 2023, respectively.

Other revenues increased for the year ended December 31,

2025 compared with the same period in 2024 due to an

increase in Nordic equity derivatives revenues and Canadian

cash equity revenues.

Other Revenues

For the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, Other

revenues include revenues related to our Nordic power

futures business and our Solovis business. See Note 4,

“Acquisition and Divestitures,” to the consolidated financial

statements for further discussion.

EXPENSES

Operating Expenses

The following table presents our operating expenses:

(in millions)

43

The increase in compensation and benefits expense for the

year ended December 31, 2025 compared with the same

period in 2024 was primarily driven by increased headcount

and higher incentive compensation and the unfavorable

impact from changes in foreign currency rates. The increase

in 2025 compared with the same period in 2024 was partially

offset by a pre-tax charge of $23 million in the first quarter of

2024 resulting from the finalization of the termination of our

pension plan.

Headcount, including employees of non-wholly owned

consolidated subsidiaries, increased to 9,525 employees as of

December 31, 2025 from 9,162 employees as of December

31, 2024, as we support revenue growth and innovation.

Professional and contract services expense increased for the

year ended December 31, 2025 compared with the same

period in 2024 primarily due to higher consulting fees,

partially offset by lower legal fee accruals.

Technology and communication infrastructure expense

increased for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared

with the same period in 2024 primarily due to increased

investment in technology, particularly our cloud initiatives

and software licensing.

Occupancy expense increased for the year ended December

31, 2025 compared with the same period in 2024 primarily

due to colocation data center growth.

General, administrative and other expense decreased for the

year ended December 31, 2025 compared with the same

period in 2024 primarily due to a gain on extinguishment of

debt recorded for the year ended December 31, 2025 as well

as the change in classification of costs related to the CAT

from general, administrative and other expense to regulatory

expense, beginning in the fourth quarter of 2024. See Note 9,

“Debt Obligations,” to the consolidated financial statements

for further discussion of the gain on extinguishment of debt.

Marketing and advertising expense increased for the year

ended December 31, 2025 compared with the same period in

2024 primarily due to higher marketing expense resulting

from higher IPO activity.

Depreciation and amortization expense increased for the year

ended December 31, 2025 compared with the same period in

2024 due to increased depreciation of capitalized software

projects.

Regulatory expense decreased for the year ended December

31, 2025 compared with the same period in 2024 primarily

due to the settlement of an SFSA fine in 2024, partially offset

by an increase relating to a change in classification of costs

related to the CAT described above.

We have pursued various strategic initiatives and completed

acquisitions and divestitures in recent years, which have

resulted in expenses which would not have otherwise been

incurred. These expenses generally include integration costs,

as well as legal, due diligence and other third-party

transaction costs and vary based on the size and frequency of

the activities described above. For the years ended December

31, 2025, and 2024, these costs included Adenza integration

costs and other strategic initiative costs. For the year ended

December 31, 2024, these costs were partially offset by

recognition of a termination fee due to Nasdaq in the second

quarter of 2024 related to the termination of the then

proposed divestiture of our Nordic power futures business.

For the year ended December 31, 2025, these costs included

a repayment of this fee due to the sale of the Nordic power

futures business to another buyer, as designated in the

settlement agreement.

Restructuring charges decreased for the year ended

December 31, 2025 compared with the same period in 2024

primarily due to the completion of our divisional realignment

program in September 2024.

We further expanded our Adenza restructuring program in

the fourth quarter of 2024 following the achievement of our

initial targets. In connection with this program, we expect to

incur approximately $140 million in pre-tax charges. We

have incurred costs principally related to employee-related

costs, contract terminations, asset impairments and other

related costs and expect to incur additional costs in these

areas in an effort to accelerate efficiencies through location

strategy and enhanced AI capabilities. Actions taken as part

of this program were completed as of December 31, 2025,

while certain costs may be recognized in the first half of

2026. We have achieved benefits primarily in the form of

expense synergies with over $160 million net expense

synergies actioned through December 31, 2025.

For further discussion related to both programs described

above, see Note 20, “Restructuring Charges,” to the

consolidated financial statements.

44

Non-Operating Income and Expenses

The following table presents our non-operating income and

expenses:

(in millions)

The following table presents our interest expense:

(in millions)

Interest income increased for the year ended December 31,

2025 compared with the same period in 2024 primarily due

to a higher average cash balance.

Interest expense decreased for the year ended December 31,

2025 compared with the same period in 2024 primarily due

to lower outstanding debt following the repayment of our

2025 Notes and the partial repurchases of several series of

outstanding senior unsecured notes. See Note 9, “Debt

Obligations,” to the consolidated financial statements for

further discussion.

Net gains on divestitures for the year ended December 31,

2025 relates to the divestitures of our Solovis business, our

Nordic power futures business and our Nasdaq Risk

Modelling for Catastrophes business. See Note 4,

“Acquisition and Divestitures,” to the consolidated financial

statements for further discussion of these transactions.

Other income (loss) primarily represents realized and

unrealized gains and losses from strategic investments related

to our corporate venture program. See “Equity Securities,” of

Note 6, “Investments,” to the consolidated financial

statements for further discussion of these transactions.

Net income (loss) from unconsolidated investees increased

for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared with the

same period in 2024 due to higher income recognized from

our equity method investment in OCC driven by higher

industry volumes. See “Equity Method Investments,” of Note

6, “Investments,” to the consolidated financial statements for

further discussion.

Tax Matters

The following table presents our income tax provision and

effective tax rate:

(in millions)

For further discussion of our tax matters, see Note 17,

“Income Taxes,” to the consolidated financial statements.

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

In addition to disclosing results determined in accordance

with U.S. GAAP, we also provide non-GAAP net income

attributable to Nasdaq and non-GAAP diluted earnings per

share in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Management uses

this non-GAAP information internally, along with U.S.

GAAP information, in evaluating our performance and in

making financial and operational decisions. We believe our

presentation of these measures provides investors with

greater transparency and supplemental data relating to our

financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we

believe the presentation of these measures is useful to

investors for period-to-period comparisons of our ongoing

operating performance.

These measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative

to, U.S. GAAP, and may be different from non-GAAP

measures used by other companies. In addition, other

companies, including companies in our industry, may

calculate such measures differently, which reduces their

usefulness as comparative measures. Investors should not

rely on any single financial measure when evaluating our

business. This non-GAAP information should be considered

as supplemental in nature and is not meant as a substitute for

our operating results in accordance with U.S. GAAP. We

recommend investors review the U.S. GAAP financial

measures included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K,

including our consolidated financial statements and the notes

thereto. When viewed in conjunction with our U.S. GAAP

results and the accompanying reconciliation, we believe these

non-GAAP measures provide greater transparency and a

more complete understanding of factors affecting our

business than U.S. GAAP measures alone.

45

We understand that analysts and investors regularly rely on

non-GAAP financial measures, such as non-GAAP net

income attributable to Nasdaq and non-GAAP diluted

earnings per share, to assess operating performance. We use

non-GAAP net income attributable to Nasdaq and non-

GAAP diluted earnings per share because they highlight

trends more clearly in our business that may not otherwise be

apparent when relying solely on U.S. GAAP financial

measures, since these measures eliminate from our results

specific financial items that have less bearing on our ongoing

operating performance.

The following table presents reconciliations between U.S.

GAAP net income attributable to Nasdaq and diluted

earnings per share and non-GAAP net income attributable to

Nasdaq and diluted earnings per share:

(in millions, except per share amounts)

We believe that excluding the above items, described further

below, from the non-GAAP net income attributable to

Nasdaq provides a more meaningful analysis of Nasdaq’s

ongoing operating performance and comparisons in Nasdaq’s

performance between periods:

• Adenza purchase accounting adjustment: As discussed in

Note 3, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers,” to the

consolidated financial statements, during the third quarter

of 2024, as part of finalizing the purchase accounting of the

Adenza acquisition, a one-time net revenue reduction of

$32 million was recorded in our Financial Technology

segment, reflecting the net impact of the accounting change

on AxiomSL subscription revenue from the date of the

Adenza acquisition. For purposes of evaluating the

performance of our segments, we have excluded the

reduction of $34 million as this relates to the prior year

impact of this change. We have not excluded the offsetting

$2 million 2024 impact of this change.

• Amortization expense of acquired intangible assets: We

amortize intangible assets acquired in connection with

various acquisitions. Intangible asset amortization expense

can vary from period to period due to episodic acquisitions

completed, rather than from our ongoing business

operations. As such, if intangible asset amortization is

included in performance measures, it is more difficult to

assess the day-to-day operating performance of the

businesses and the relative operating performance of the

businesses between periods.

• Merger and strategic initiatives expense: We have pursued

various strategic initiatives and completed acquisitions and

divestitures in recent years that have resulted in expenses

which would not have otherwise been incurred. The

frequency and the amount of such expenses vary

significantly based on the size, timing and complexity of

the transactions. These expenses primarily include

integration costs, as well as legal, due diligence and other

third-party transaction costs.

• For the years ended December 31, 2025, and December

31, 2024, these costs included Adenza integration costs

and other strategic initiative costs. For the year ended

December 31, 2024, these costs were partially offset by

the recognition of a termination fee received by Nasdaq

in 2024, related to the termination of the proposed

divestiture of our Nordic power futures business. For the

year ended December 31, 2025, these costs included a

repayment of this fee due to the sale of the Nordic power

futures business to another buyer, as designated in the

settlement agreement.

• Restructuring charges: In the fourth quarter of 2023,

following the closing of the Adenza acquisition, our

management approved, committed to and initiated a

restructuring program, to optimize our efficiencies as a

combined organization. We further expanded this program

in the fourth quarter of 2024 following the achievement of

our initial targets. Actions taken as part of this program

were completed as of December 31, 2025, while certain

46

costs may be recognized in the first half of 2026. In

addition, we completed our divisional realignment program

in September 2024. See Note 20, “Restructuring Charges,”

to the consolidated financial statements for further

discussion of these programs.

• Lease asset impairments: For the year ended December 31,

2023, this included impairment charges related to our

operating lease assets and leasehold improvements

associated with vacating certain leased office space, which

are recorded in occupancy and depreciation and

amortization expense in the Consolidated Statements of

Income.

• Gain/loss on extinguishment of debt: For the year ended

December 31, 2025 we recorded a gain on early

extinguishment of debt and for the year ended December

31, 2024 we recorded a loss on early extinguishment of

debt. These gains and losses were recorded under general,

administrative and other expense in the Consolidated

Statements of Income. See Note 9, “Debt Obligations,” to

the consolidated financial statements for further discussion.

• Net gain on divestitures: For the year ended December 31,

2025, this includes net gains on divestitures of our Solovis

business, Nordic power futures business and our Nasdaq

Risk Modelling for Catastrophes business. These gains are

net of costs to sell. See Note 4, “Acquisition and

Divestitures,” to the consolidated financial statements for

further discussion of these transactions.

• Net (income) loss from unconsolidated investees: We

exclude our share of the earnings and losses of our equity

method investments. This provides a more meaningful

analysis of Nasdaq’s ongoing operating performance or

comparisons in Nasdaq’s performance between periods.

See “Equity Method Investments,” of Note 6,

“Investments,” to the consolidated financial statements for

further discussion.

• Legal and regulatory matters: For the year ended

December 31, 2025, this includes accruals relating to

certain legal matters, which are recorded in professional

and contract services in the Consolidated Statements of

Income. For the year ended December 31, 2024, this

primarily related to the settlement of an SFSA fine, and

accruals related to certain legal matters, which are recorded

in regulatory expense and professional and contract

services in the Consolidated Statements of Income.

• Pension settlement charge: For the years ended December

31, 2024 and 2023, we recorded a pre-tax charge as a result

of settling our U.S. pension plan. The plan was terminated

and partially settled in 2023, with final settlement

occurring during the first quarter of 2024. The pre-tax

charge is recorded in compensation and benefits expense in

the Consolidated Statements of Income.

• Other (gain) loss: For the years ended December 31, 2025

and 2024, other items primarily include net gains and

losses from strategic investments entered into through our

corporate venture program, which are included in other

income (loss) in our Consolidated Statements of Income.

• Total non-GAAP tax adjustments: The non-GAAP

adjustment to the income tax provision for all periods

primarily includes the tax impact of each non-GAAP

adjustment.

• Other tax adjustments: For the years ended December 31,

2025 and 2024, other tax adjustments reflect a tax benefit

related to payments made to certain former Adenza

employees. For the year ended December 31, 2025, this

also reflects tax benefits from the revaluation of deferred

tax liabilities to a lower blended state and local tax rate,

revised state positions related to prior years, the release of

a prior year reserve following a favorable audit settlement

and a divestiture in 2025. For the year ended December 31,

2024, other tax adjustments reflect a one-time net tax

expense of $33 million related to the completion of an

intra-group transfer of certain IP assets to our U.S.

headquarters as well as a tax benefit related to return to

provision adjustments and release of tax reserves due to

lapse in statute of limitations.

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

Historically, we have funded our operating activities and met

our commitments through cash generated by operations,

augmented by the periodic issuance of debt. Currently, our

cost and availability of funding remain healthy. We continue

to prudently assess our capital deployment strategy through

balancing internal investments, debt repayments, and

shareholder return activity, including dividends and share

repurchases, and potential acquisitions.

We expect that our current cash and cash equivalents

combined with cash flows provided by operating activities,

supplemented with our borrowing capacity and access to

additional financing, including our revolving credit facility

and our commercial paper program, provides us additional

flexibility to meet our ongoing obligations and the capital

deployment strategic actions described above, while allowing

us to invest in activities and product development that

support the long-term growth of our operations.

Principal factors that could affect the availability of our

internally-generated funds include:

• deterioration of our revenues in any of our business

segments;

• changes in regulatory and working capital requirements;

and

• an increase in our expenses.

Principal factors that could affect our ability to obtain cash

from external sources include:

• operating covenants contained in our credit facilities that

limit our total borrowing capacity;

47

• credit rating downgrades, which could limit our access to

additional debt;

• a significant decrease in the market price of our common

stock; and

• volatility or disruption in the public debt and equity

markets.

The following table summarizes selected measures of our

liquidity and capital resources:

(in millions)

Working Capital

The increase in working capital from December 31, 2024 to

December 31, 2025, excluding default funds and margin

deposits, which are both equal and offsetting, is primarily due

to a decrease in current liabilities and an increase in current

assets.

Decreased current liabilities were primarily due to:

• a decrease in Section 31 fees payable due to a decrease in

the fee rate, partially offset by

• higher deferred revenue due to higher average billings,
• an increase in other current liabilities,
• an increase in accrued personnel costs, and
• an increase in short-term debt due to the reclassification of

2026 Notes, partially offset by the repayment of the 2025

Notes.

Increased current assets were primarily due to:

• higher restricted cash primarily due to the movement of

regulatory capital to shorter term investments qualifying as

cash equivalents,

• an increase in other current assets, and
• an increase in cash and cash equivalents; partially offset by
• lower financial investments at fair value offset in restricted

cash above, and

• decreased receivables, net due to timing of billings.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents includes all non-restricted cash in

banks and highly liquid investments with original maturities

of 90 days or less at the time of purchase. The balance

retained in cash and cash equivalents is a function of

anticipated or possible short-term cash needs, prevailing

interest rates, our investment policy, and alternative

investment choices. As of December 31, 2025, our cash and

cash equivalents of $604 million were primarily invested in

money market funds, European government debt securities,

bank deposits and state-owned enterprises notes.

Repatriation of Cash

Our cash and cash equivalents held outside of the U.S. in

various foreign subsidiaries totaled $280 million as of

December 31, 2025 and $181 million as of December 31,

2024. The remaining balance held in the U.S. totaled $324

million as of December 31, 2025 and $411 million as of

December 31, 2024.

Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents

Restricted cash and cash equivalents, which was $210 million

as of December 31, 2025 and $31 million as of December 31,

2024, is restricted from withdrawal due to a contractual or

regulatory requirement or not available for general use and as

such is classified as restricted in the Consolidated Balance

Sheets. The increase in this balance as of December 31, 2025

is primarily due to more regulatory capital being invested in

shorter term investments, which are classified as cash

equivalents, and are included in restricted cash and cash

equivalents in the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of

December 31, 2025. As of December 31, 2024, we had more

regulatory capital being invested in longer term investments,

which were classified as financial investments in the

Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Cash Flow Analysis

The following table summarizes the changes in cash flows:

(in millions)

Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities

Net cash provided by operating activities primarily consists

of net income adjusted for certain non-cash items, including,

but not limited to, depreciation and amortization expense,

expense associated with share-based compensation, net

income from unconsolidated investees, net gain on

divestitures and the effects of changes in working capital.

Refer to the above discussion regarding changes in working

capital.

Net cash provided by operating activities increased $316

million for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared with

the same period in 2024. The increase was primarily driven

by an increase in net income, partially offset by changes in

working capital, as discussed above, and a decrease in

adjustments to net income primarily driven by higher net

income from unconsolidated investees and net gain on

divestitures, partially offset by an increase in deferred income

tax expense.

Net Cash Used in Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities increased for the year

ended December 31, 2025 as compared to 2024 primarily

driven by increases in net purchases of investments related to

default funds and margin deposits of $373 million, purchases

48

of property and equipment of $59 million and other investing

activities of $46 million primarily related to our corporate

venture program, partially offset by proceeds from sales and

redemption of securities, net of $191 million, primarily due

to more regulatory capital being invested in shorter term

investments, which are classified as cash equivalents, and

proceeds from divestitures of $140 million. The movement in

our default funds and margin deposits has no impact on

Nasdaq's cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash or restricted

cash equivalents as it is held on behalf of our customers.

Net Cash Used in Financing Activities

Net cash used in financing activities increased for the year

ended December 31, 2025 as compared to 2024 primarily

driven by increases in repurchases of common stock of $471

million, an increase in dividends paid of $60 million and an

increase in the repayment of debt of $14 million, resulting

from our continued commitment toward deleveraging. These

increases were partially offset by a decrease in default funds

and margin deposits of $146 million which does not impact

Nasdaq's cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash or restricted

cash equivalents as it relates to customer funds.

See “Default Fund Contributions and Margin Deposits” of

Note 15, “Clearing Operations,” for further discussion of

these balances.

See Note 9, “Debt Obligations,” to the consolidated financial

statements for further discussion of our debt obligations.

See “Share Repurchase Program,” and “Cash Dividends on

Common Stock,” of Note 12, “Nasdaq Stockholders’

Equity,” to the consolidated financial statements for further

discussion of our share repurchase program and cash

dividends declared and paid on our common stock.

Financial Investments

Our financial investments totaled $28 million as of December

31, 2025 and $184 million as of December 31, 2024. Of these

securities, $18 million as of December 31, 2025 and $171

million as of December 31, 2024 are assets primarily utilized

to meet regulatory capital requirements, mainly for our

clearing operations at Nasdaq Clearing. See Restricted Cash

and Cash Equivalents above and Note 6, “Investments,” to

the consolidated financial statements for further discussion.

Regulatory Capital Requirements

Clearing Operations Regulatory Capital Requirements

We are required to maintain minimum levels of regulatory

capital for the clearing operations of Nasdaq Clearing. The

level of regulatory capital required to be maintained is

dependent upon many factors, including market conditions

and creditworthiness of the counterparty. As of December 31,

2025, our required regulatory capital of $158 million was

primarily comprised of cash and cash equivalents that are

included in restricted cash and cash equivalents in the

Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Broker-Dealer Net Capital Requirements

Our broker-dealer subsidiaries, Nasdaq Execution Services,

NFSTX, LLC, and Nasdaq Capital Markets Advisory, are

subject to regulatory requirements intended to ensure their

general financial soundness and liquidity. These requirements

obligate these subsidiaries to comply with minimum net

capital requirements. As of December 31, 2025, the

combined required minimum net capital totaled $1 million

and the combined excess capital totaled $25 million,

substantially all of which is held in cash and cash equivalents

in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The required minimum

net capital is included in restricted cash and cash equivalents

in the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Nordic and Baltic Exchange Regulatory Capital

Requirements

The entities that operate trading venues in the Nordic and

Baltic countries are each subject to local regulations and are

required to maintain regulatory capital intended to ensure

their general financial soundness and liquidity. As of

December 31, 2025, our required regulatory capital of $47

million was primarily invested in cash and cash equivalents,

which is included in restricted cash and cash equivalents in

the Consolidated Balance Sheets and European government

debt securities that are included in financial investments in

the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Other Capital Requirements

We operate several other businesses which are subject to

local regulation and are required to maintain certain levels of

regulatory capital. As of December 31, 2025, other required

regulatory capital of $13 million, primarily related to Nasdaq

Central Securities Depository, was primarily invested in

European government debt securities that are included in

financial investments in the Consolidated Balance Sheets and

cash and cash equivalents, which is included in restricted

cash and cash equivalents in the Consolidated Balance

Sheets.

Equity and dividends

Share Repurchase Program

See “Share Repurchase Program,” of Note 12, “Nasdaq

Stockholders’ Equity,” to the consolidated financial

statements for further discussion of our share repurchase

program, including our ASR agreements.

Cash Dividends on Common Stock

The following table presents our quarterly cash dividends

paid per common share on our outstanding common stock:

See “Cash Dividends on Common Stock,” of Note 12,

“Nasdaq Stockholders’ Equity,” to the consolidated financial

statements for further discussion of the dividends.

49

Debt Obligations

Our outstanding debt obligations, by contractual maturity, at December 31, 2025 are as follows (in U.S. Dollar millions):

n U.S. Notes n Euro Notes

During 2025, we paid $426 million, excluding accrued

interest, to repurchase an aggregate book value of $444

million of our 2026 Notes, 2028 Notes, 2034 Notes and 2052

Notes. We also repaid in full, at maturity, the 2025 Notes for

an aggregate of $400 million.

As of December 31, 2025, the weighted average interest rate

on our debt obligations was approximately 3.7%, and for the

year ended December 31, 2025, the weighted average interest

rate on our debt obligations was approximately 3.81%. This

rate can fluctuate based on changes in foreign currency

exchange rates and changes in the amount and duration of

outstanding debt. See “foreign currency exchange rate risk”

below for further discussion on hedging associated with our

Euro Notes. In addition to the 2022 Revolving Credit

Facility, we also have other credit facilities primarily to

support our Nasdaq Clearing operations in Europe, as well as

to provide a cash pool credit line. These European credit

facilities, which are available in multiple currencies, totaled

$208 million as of December 31, 2025 and $174 million as of

December 31, 2024 in available liquidity, none of which was

utilized.

As of December 31, 2025, we were in compliance with the

covenants of all of our debt obligations.

See Note 9, “Debt Obligations,” to the consolidated financial

statements for further discussion of our debt obligations.

CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS AND CONTINGENT

COMMITMENTS

Nasdaq has contractual obligations to make future payments

under debt obligations by contract maturity, operating lease

payments, and other obligations. The following table

summarizes material cash requirements for known

contractual and other obligations as of December 31, 2025,

and the estimated timing thereof.

(in millions)

In the table above:

• Debt obligations by contractual maturity include both

principal and interest obligations. For our Euro Notes,

interest is calculated on an actual basis while all other debt

obligations were primarily calculated on a 365-day basis at

the contractual fixed rate multiplied by the aggregate

principal amount as of December 31, 2025. See Note 9,

“Debt Obligations,” to the consolidated financial

statements for further discussion.

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• Operating lease obligations represent our undiscounted

operating lease liabilities as of December 31, 2025, as well

as legally binding minimum lease payments for leases

signed but not yet commenced. See Note 16, “Leases,” to

the consolidated financial statements for further discussion

of our leases.

• Purchase obligations primarily represent minimum

outstanding obligations due under software license

agreements. The balance as of December 31, 2025 is

primarily comprised of our multi-year Amazon Web

Services partnership contract, which we expanded and

extended in the first quarter of 2025. This contract will

benefit both our Financial Technology and Market Services

segments, including their modernization. The expansion of

this contract is not expected to increase our cloud expense

compared to our expectation over the short term or the life

of the contract, and preserves flexibility beyond our

forecast.

OFF-BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS

For discussion of off-balance sheet arrangements see:

• Note 15, “Clearing Operations,” to the consolidated

financial statements for further discussion of our non-cash

default fund contributions and margin deposits received for

clearing operations; and

• Note 18, “Commitments, Contingencies and Guarantees,”

to the consolidated financial statements for further

discussion of:

• Guarantees issued and credit facilities available;
• Other guarantees; and
• Routing brokerage activities.

QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE

DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

As a result of our operating, investing and financing

activities, we are exposed to market risks such as interest rate

risk and foreign currency exchange rate risk. We are also

exposed to credit risk as a result of our normal business

activities.

We have implemented policies and procedures to measure,

manage, monitor and report risk exposures, which are

reviewed regularly by management and the board of

directors. We identify risk exposures and monitor and

manage such risks on a daily basis.

We perform sensitivity analyses to determine the effects of

market risk exposures. We may use derivative instruments

solely to hedge financial risks related to our financial

positions or risks that are incurred during the normal course

of business. We do not use derivative instruments for

speculative purposes.

Interest Rate Risk

We are subject to the risk of fluctuating interest rates in the

normal course of business. Our exposure to market risk for

changes in interest rates relates primarily to our financial

investments and debt obligations, which are discussed below.

All of our outstanding debt obligations are fixed-rate

obligations. We may enter into transactions that expose us to

interest rate risk, for which we may utilize interest rate

derivatives agreements to manage that risk.

Financial Investments

As of December 31, 2025, our investment portfolio was

primarily comprised of highly rated European government

debt securities, which pay a fixed rate of interest. These

securities are subject to interest rate risk and the fair value of

these securities will decrease if market interest rates increase.

The impact of an immediate increase to market interest rates,

uniformly, by a hypothetical 100 basis points from levels as

of December 31, 2025, would not have a material impact on

our financial statements.

Debt Obligations

As of December 31, 2025, all of our outstanding debt

obligations are fixed-rate obligations. Interest rates on certain

tranches of notes are subject to adjustment to the extent our

debt rating is downgraded below investment grade, as further

discussed in Note 9, “Debt Obligations,” to the consolidated

financial statements. While changes in interest rates will have

no impact on the interest we pay on fixed-rate obligations, we

are exposed to changes in interest rates as a result of the

borrowings under our 2022 Revolving Credit Facility, as this

facility has a variable interest rate. We may also be exposed

to changes in interest rates if there are amounts outstanding

from the sale of commercial paper under our commercial

paper program, which have variable interest rates. As of

December 31, 2025, there were no outstanding borrowings

under our 2022 Revolving Credit Facility or commercial

paper program.

Foreign Currency Exchange Rate Risk

We are subject to foreign currency exchange rate risk. Our

primary transactional exposure to foreign currency

denominated revenues less transaction-based expenses and

operating income for the years ended December 31, 2025 and

2024 is presented in the following tables. The tables below

do not include the offsetting impact of our hedging programs.

51

(in millions, except currency rate)

Year Ended December 31, 2025

(in millions, except currency rate)

Year Ended December 31, 2024

#Represents multiple foreign currency rates.

N/ANot applicable.

The adverse impacts shown in the preceding tables should be

viewed individually by currency and not in aggregate, due to

the correlation between changes in exchange rates for certain

currencies.

We may use foreign exchange contracts to hedge a portion of

our forecasted foreign currency denominated revenues and

expenses in the normal course of business. We hedge these

cash flow exposures to reduce the risk that our earnings and

cash flows will be adversely affected by changes in exchange

rates. These foreign exchange contracts are carried at fair

value, with maturities that can range up to 18 months. We

record changes in fair value of these cash flow hedges of

foreign currency denominated revenue and expenses in

accumulated other comprehensive loss in the Consolidated

Balance Sheets, until the forecasted transaction occurs. When

the forecasted transaction affects earnings, or in the event the

underlying forecasted transaction does not occur, or it

becomes probable that it will not occur, we reclassify the

related gain or loss on the cash flow hedge to revenue or

operating expenses, as applicable. As of December 31, 2025,

the fair value of our derivatives designated as cash flow

hedging instruments are not material.

Our investments in foreign subsidiaries are exposed to

volatility in currency exchange rates through translation of

the foreign subsidiaries’ net assets or equity to U.S. dollars.

Substantially all of our foreign subsidiaries operate in

functional currencies other than the U.S. dollar. The financial

statements of these subsidiaries are translated into U.S.

dollars for consolidated reporting using a current rate of

exchange, with net gains or losses recorded in accumulated

other comprehensive loss in the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Our primary exposure to net assets in foreign currencies as of

December 31, 2025 is presented in the following table:

(in millions)

In the table above, Swedish Krona includes goodwill of

$2,488 million and intangible assets, net of $511 million.

52

Our Euro Notes have been designated as a hedge of our net

investment in certain foreign subsidiaries to mitigate the

foreign exchange risk associated with certain investments in

these subsidiaries. Accordingly, the remeasurement of these

notes is recorded in accumulated other comprehensive loss in

the Consolidated Balance Sheets. See Note 9, “Debt

Obligations,” to the consolidated financial statements. We

enter into foreign exchange contracts to hedge a portion of

our net investment in certain foreign subsidiaries. These

foreign exchange contracts are carried at fair value, with

maturities ranging up to eight years, and reported as either an

asset or liability depending on their position as of the balance

sheet date, and accumulated other comprehensive loss in the

Consolidated Balance Sheets. The accumulated gains and

losses associated with these instruments will remain in

accumulated other comprehensive loss until the foreign

subsidiaries are sold or substantially liquidated, at which

point they will be reclassified into earnings.

Credit Risk

Credit risk is the potential loss due to the default or

deterioration in credit quality of customers or counterparties.

We are exposed to credit risk from third parties, including

customers, counterparties and clearing agents. These parties

may default on their obligations to us due to bankruptcy, lack

of liquidity, operational failure or other reasons. We limit our

exposure to credit risk by evaluating the counterparties with

which we make investments and execute agreements. For our

investment portfolio, our objective is to invest in securities to

preserve principal while maximizing yields, without

significantly increasing risk. Credit risk associated with

investments is minimized substantially by ensuring that these

financial assets are placed with governments which have

investment grade ratings, well-capitalized financial

institutions and other creditworthy counterparties.

Our subsidiary, Nasdaq Execution Services, may be exposed

to credit risk due to the default of trading counterparties in

connection with the routing services it provides for our

trading customers. System trades in cash equities routed to

other market centers for members of our cash equity

exchanges are routed by Nasdaq Execution Services for

clearing to the NSCC. In this function, Nasdaq Execution

Services is to be neutral by the end of the trading day, but

may be exposed to intraday risk if a trade extends beyond the

trading day and into the next day, thereby leaving Nasdaq

Execution Services susceptible to counterparty risk in the

period between accepting the trade and routing it to the

clearinghouse. In this interim period, Nasdaq Execution

Services is not novating like a clearing broker but instead is

subject to the short-term risk of counterparty failure before

the clearinghouse enters the transaction. Once the

clearinghouse officially accepts the trade for novation,

Nasdaq Execution Services is legally removed from trade

execution risk. However, Nasdaq has membership

obligations to NSCC independent of Nasdaq Execution

Services’ arrangements.

Pursuant to the rules of the NSCC and Nasdaq Execution

Services’ clearing agreement, Nasdaq Execution Services is

liable for any losses incurred due to a counterparty or a

clearing agent’s failure to satisfy its contractual obligations,

either by making payment or delivering securities. Adverse

movements in the prices of securities that are subject to these

transactions can increase our credit risk. However, we believe

that the risk of material loss is limited, as Nasdaq Execution

Services’ customers are not permitted to trade on margin and

NSCC rules limit counterparty risk on self-cleared

transactions by establishing credit limits and capital deposit

requirements for all brokers that clear with NSCC.

Historically, Nasdaq Execution Services has never incurred a

liability due to a customer’s failure to satisfy its contractual

obligations as counterparty to a system trade. Credit

difficulties or insolvency, or the perceived possibility of

credit difficulties or insolvency, of one or more larger or

visible market participants could also result in market-wide

credit difficulties or other market disruptions.

We have credit risk related to transaction and subscription-

based revenues that are billed to customers on a monthly or

quarterly basis, in arrears. Our potential exposure to credit

losses on these transactions is represented by the receivable

balances in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. We review and

evaluate changes in the status of our counterparties’

creditworthiness. Credit losses such as those described above

could adversely affect our consolidated financial position and

results of operations.

We also are exposed to credit risk through our clearing

operations with Nasdaq Clearing. See Note 15, “Clearing

Operations,” to the consolidated financial statements for

further discussion. Our clearinghouse holds material amounts

of clearing member cash deposits, which are held or invested

primarily to provide security of capital while minimizing

credit, market and liquidity risks. While we seek to achieve a

reasonable rate of return, we are primarily concerned with

preservation of capital and managing the risks associated

with these deposits. As the clearinghouse may remit to the

members interest earned at prevailing market rates, less a

spread, this could include negative or reduced yield due to

market conditions. The following is a summary of the risks

associated with these deposits and how these risks are

mitigated.

• Credit Risk: When the clearinghouse has the ability to hold

cash collateral at a central bank, the clearinghouse utilizes

its access to the central bank system to minimize credit risk

exposures. When funds are not held at a central bank, we

seek to substantially mitigate credit risk by ensuring that

investments are primarily placed in large, highly rated

financial institutions, highly rated government debt

instruments and other creditworthy counterparties.

53

• Liquidity Risk: Liquidity risk is the risk a clearinghouse

may not be able to meet its payment obligations in the right

currency, in the right place and the right time. To mitigate

this risk, the clearinghouse monitors liquidity requirements

closely and maintains funds and assets in a manner which

minimizes the risk of loss or delay in the access by the

clearinghouse to such funds and assets. For example,

holding funds with a central bank where possible or

investing in highly liquid government debt instruments

serves to reduce liquidity risks.

• Interest Rate Risk: Interest rate risk is the risk that interest

rates rise causing the value of purchased securities to

decline. If we were required to sell securities prior to

maturity, and interest rates had risen, the sale of the

securities might be made at a loss relative to the latest

market price. Our clearinghouse seeks to manage this risk

by making short-term investments of members’ cash

deposits. In addition, the clearinghouse investment

guidelines allow for direct purchases or repurchase

agreements with short dated maturities of high quality

sovereign debt (for example, European government and

U.S. Treasury securities), central bank certificates and

multilateral development bank debt instruments.

• Security Issuer Risk: Security issuer risk is the risk that an

issuer of a security defaults on its payment when the

security matures. This risk is mitigated by limiting

allowable investments and collateral under reverse

repurchase agreements to high quality sovereign,

government agency or multilateral development bank debt

instruments.

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND

ESTIMATES

The preparation of financial statements and related

disclosures in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires

management to make judgments, assumptions, and estimates

that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial

statements and accompanying notes. Note 2, “Summary of

Significant Accounting Policies,” to the consolidated

financial statements describes the significant accounting

policies and methods used in the preparation of the

consolidated financial statements. The accounting policies

described below are significantly affected by critical

accounting estimates. Such accounting policies require

significant judgments, assumptions, and estimates used in the

preparation of the consolidated financial statements, and

actual results could differ materially from the amounts

reported based on these policies.

Revenue Recognition

As part of our on-premises offerings for our AxiomSL,

market technology, and Calypso solutions within our

Financial Technology segment, we enter into long-term

contracts with our customers that contain multiple

performance obligations. These contracts often include

combinations of software licenses, professional services,

PCS, and other services. We allocate the total contract value

to each performance obligation based on relative standalone

selling prices, or SSP. When observable prices are not

available such as, when a product or service is not sold

separately, we estimate SSP using an expected cost-plus-

margin approach. In certain cases, we apply a residual

approach, allocating the remaining transaction price to

undetermined obligations after assigning amounts to those

with observable SSPs.

For AxiomSL on-premises contracts, we account for the

software license and PCS as a single performance obligation.

This is due to the frequent and mandatory regulatory updates

that are integral to the utility of the software. As such,

revenue is recognized ratably over the contract term,

reflecting the continuous transfer of value to the customer.

As part of our on-premises market technology offering, the

performance obligations within our contracts to develop

customized technology solutions generally consist of a

software license and installation service (professional

services), which together form a single distinct performance

obligation, as well as PCS. We have determined that the

software license and installation service are not distinct as the

license and the customized installation service are inputs to

produce the combined output, a functional and integrated

software system. Revenue for this combined performance

obligation is generally recognized over time using costs

incurred to date relative to total estimated costs at completion

to measure progress toward satisfying our performance

obligation. We recognize revenue over time as our customer

controls the asset for which we are creating, our performance

does not create an asset with alternative use, and we have a

right to payment for performance completed to date. We must

estimate total contract costs, which are influenced by factors

such as technical complexity, delivery schedules, and

productivity. These estimates are reviewed and updated at

least quarterly. Any changes in assumptions or estimates are

recognized in the period in which they occur and may

materially impact the timing and amount of revenue and

profit recognized. PCS revenue is recognized ratably over the

support period, reflecting the continuous transfer of services.

Our Calypso on-premises offering typically includes two

distinct performance obligations: a software license and PCS.

License revenue is recognized upfront at the point in time

when the software is made available to the customer as this is

when the customer obtains control and can derive

substantially all benefits from the license. PCS revenue is

recognized over time on a ratable basis over the contract

period beginning on the date that our service is made

available to the customer since the customer receives and

consumes the benefit as Nasdaq provides the service.

Accounting for these contracts requires significant judgment

across several areas. This includes identifying distinct

performance obligations within complex, multi-element

arrangements and determining the SSP for each obligation,

especially when observable pricing is not available. We also

exercise judgment in allocating the transaction price to each

performance obligation based on relative SSP, and in

54

selecting the appropriate method to measure progress toward

satisfaction of those obligations, such as the input method for

long-term implementation services. If estimated total contract

costs exceed total revenues, we record a provision for the full

expected loss in the period the loss is identified.

Due to the significance of judgment in the estimation process,

as discussed above, changes in assumptions and estimates

may adversely or positively affect financial performance in

future periods.

For further discussion related to recognition of these

revenues, see “Revenue From Contracts with Customers -

Revenue Recognition,” of Note 2, “Summary of Significant

Accounting Policies,” to the consolidated financial

statements.

Goodwill, Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets and Related

Impairment Testing

Assets acquired and liabilities assumed in connection with

our acquisitions are recorded at their estimated fair values.

Goodwill represents the excess of purchase price over the

estimated fair value assigned to the net assets, including

identifiable intangible assets, of a business acquired.

Goodwill is allocated to our reporting units based on the

assignment of the fair values of each reporting unit of the

acquired company. We recognize specifically identifiable

intangibles, such as customer relationships, technology,

exchange and clearing registrations, trade names and licenses

when a specific right or contract is acquired. Goodwill and

intangible assets deemed to have indefinite useful lives,

primarily exchange and clearing registrations, are not

amortized but instead are tested for impairment at least

annually as of October 1 and more frequently whenever

events or changes in circumstances indicate that the fair value

of the asset may be less than its carrying amount, such as

changes in the business climate, poor indicators of operating

performance or the sale or disposition of a significant portion

of a reporting unit. We perform our goodwill impairment test

at the reporting unit level for our three reporting units:

Capital Access Platforms, Financial Technology and Market

Services segments.

When testing goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets

for impairment, we have the option of first performing a

qualitative assessment to determine whether it is more likely

than not that the fair value of a reporting unit or indefinite-

lived intangible asset is less than their respective carrying

amounts as the basis to determine if it is necessary to perform

a quantitative impairment test. If we choose not to complete a

qualitative assessment, or if the initial assessment indicates

that it is more likely than not that the carrying amount of a

reporting unit or the carrying amount of an indefinite-lived

intangible asset exceeds their respective estimated fair values,

a quantitative test is required. Our decision to perform a

qualitative impairment assessment in a given year is

influenced by a number of factors, including but not limited

to, the size of the reporting unit’s goodwill, the significance

of the excess of the reporting unit’s estimated fair value or

the indefinite-lived intangible asset’s fair value over their

respective carrying amounts at the last quantitative

assessment date, and the amount of time in between

quantitative fair value assessments.

In performing a quantitative impairment test, we compare the

fair value of each reporting unit and indefinite-lived

intangible asset with their respective carrying amounts. The

fair value of each reporting unit is estimated using a

combination of a discounted cash flow valuation, which

incorporates assumptions regarding future growth rates,

terminal values, and discount rates, as well as guideline

public company valuations, which incorporates relevant

trading multiples of comparable companies and other factors.

The estimates and assumptions used consider historical

performance and are consistent with the assumptions used in

determining future profit plans for each reporting unit, which

are approved by our board of directors. The fair value of

indefinite-lived intangible assets is primarily determined on

the basis of estimated discounted value, using the Greenfield

Approach for exchange and clearing registrations and

licenses, and the relief from royalty approach or excess

earnings approach for trade names, both of which incorporate

assumptions regarding future revenue projections and

discount rates. If the carrying amounts of the reporting unit or

the indefinite-lived intangible asset exceed their respective

fair values, an impairment charge is recognized in an amount

equal to the difference, limited to the total amount of

goodwill allocated to that reporting unit or the total carrying

value of the indefinite-lived intangible asset.

The following table presents the carrying value of goodwill

for our reportable segments at the time of our 2025 annual

impairment test:

(in millions)

In 2025, we performed a qualitative impairment test for

goodwill on all reporting units and indefinite-lived intangible

assets, as the excesses of their fair values over their

respective carrying amounts, at the time of the last

quantitative test in 2023, were significant. In conducting the

qualitative assessment, we evaluated the performance of each

of these reporting units and indefinite-lived intangible assets

since the last quantitative test, as well as future financial

projections to determine if there were any changes in the key

inputs used to determine their respective fair values. We also

considered the qualitative factors in FASB ASC Topic 350,

“Intangibles–Goodwill and Other,” as well as other relevant

events and circumstances. Based on the results of the

qualitative assessment for each reporting unit and indefinite-

lived intangible asset, and the predominance of positive

indicators and the weight of such indicators, we concluded

that the fair values of our reporting units and indefinite-lived

intangible assets are more likely than not greater than their

respective carrying amounts and as a result, quantitative

analyses were not needed. No impairment of goodwill or

indefinite-lived intangible assets was recorded in 2025, 2024

and 2023.

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Although we believe our estimates of fair value are

reasonable, the determination of certain valuation inputs is

subject to management’s judgment. Changes in these inputs

could materially affect the results of our impairment review.

If our forecasts of cash flows or other key inputs are

negatively revised in the future, the estimated fair value of

each reporting unit and of our indefinite-lived intangible

assets would be adversely impacted, potentially leading to an

impairment in the future that could materially affect our

operating results.

Subsequent to our annual impairment test, no indications of

impairment were identified.

Other Long-Lived Assets and Related Impairment

We review our other long-lived assets, such as finite-lived

intangible assets, property and equipment, and operating

lease assets for potential impairment when there is evidence

that events or changes in circumstances indicate that the

carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. The

carrying amount of an asset is not recoverable if it exceeds

the sum of the undiscounted cash flows expected to result

from the use and eventual disposition of the asset. If the

carrying amount of the long-lived asset is not recoverable, we

would measure the impairment loss as the amount by which

the carrying amount of the asset exceeds its fair value and is

recorded as a reduction in the carrying amount of the related

asset and a charge to operating results. The fair value of

finite-lived intangible assets, property and equipment and

operating lease assets is based on various valuation

techniques, such as discounted cash flow analysis.

There were no material finite-lived intangible assets

impairment charges in 2025, 2024 and 2023.

There were no material non-cash property and equipment

asset impairment charges in 2025. We recorded pre-tax, non-

cash property and equipment asset impairment charges,

primarily in relation to our restructuring programs of

$37 million in 2024 and $12 million in 2023. See Note 20,

“Restructuring Charges,” to the consolidated financial

statements for a discussion of these plans.

There were no material operating lease assets impairments in

2025 and 2024. As a result of the review of our real estate

and facility capacity requirements, for the year ended

December 31, 2023, we recorded impairment charges of

$23 million, of which $18 million related to operating lease

asset impairment. See Note 16, “Leases,” for further

discussion.

No material impairments were recorded to reduce the

carrying value of our other long-lived assets during 2025,

2024 or 2023.

Income Taxes

Estimates and judgments are required in the calculation of

certain tax liabilities and in the determination of the

recoverability of certain deferred tax assets, which arise from

net operating loss carryforwards, tax credit carryforwards and

temporary differences between the tax and financial

statement recognition of revenues and expenses. Our deferred

tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance if it is more

likely than not that some portion or all of the recorded

deferred tax assets will not be realized in future periods.

Management is required to determine whether a tax position

is more likely than not to be sustained upon examination,

including resolution of any related appeals or litigation

processes, based on the technical merits of the position. Once

it is determined that a position meets the recognition

thresholds, the position is measured to determine the amount

of benefit to be recognized in the consolidated financial

statements.

In assessing the need for a valuation allowance, we consider

all available evidence including past operating results, the

existence of cumulative losses in the most recent fiscal years,

estimates of future taxable income and the feasibility of tax

planning strategies. In the event that we change our

determination as to the amount of deferred tax assets that can

be realized, we will adjust our valuation allowance with a

corresponding impact to the provision for income taxes in the

period in which such determination is made.

In addition, the calculation of our tax liabilities involves

uncertainties in the application of tax regulations in the U.S.

and other tax jurisdictions. We recognize potential liabilities

for anticipated tax audit issues in such jurisdictions based on

our estimate of whether, and the extent to which, additional

taxes and interest may be due. While we believe that our tax

liabilities reflect the probable outcome of identified tax

uncertainties, it is reasonably possible that the ultimate

resolution of any tax matter may be greater or less than the

amount accrued. If events occur and the payment of these

amounts ultimately proves unnecessary, the reversal of the

liabilities would result in tax benefits being recognized in the

period when we determine the liabilities are no longer

necessary. If our estimate of tax liabilities proves to be less

than the ultimate assessment, a further charge to expense

would result.

Market Risk

Information about quantitative and qualitative disclosures

about market risk is incorporated herein by reference from

“Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial

Condition and Results of Operations - Quantitative and

Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.”

Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Nasdaq’s management, with the participation of Nasdaq’s

Chief Executive Officer, and Executive Vice President and

Chief Financial Officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of

Nasdaq’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in

Rule 13a-15(e) and Rule 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act)

as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based upon

that evaluation, Nasdaq’s Chief Executive Officer and

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, have

concluded that, as of the end of such period, Nasdaq’s

disclosure controls and procedures are effective.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

There have been no changes in Nasdaq’s internal control over

financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) and Rule

15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) that occurred during the

quarter ended December 31, 2025 that have materially

affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect,

Nasdaq’s internal control over financial reporting.

Management’s Report on Internal Control Over

Financial Reporting

Management is responsible for the preparation and integrity

of the consolidated financial statements appearing in the

reports that we file with the SEC. The consolidated financial

statements were prepared in conformity with U.S. generally

accepted accounting principles and include amounts based on

management’s estimates and judgments.

Management is also responsible for establishing and

maintaining adequate internal control over Nasdaq’s financial

reporting. Although there are inherent limitations in the

effectiveness of any system of internal control over financial

reporting, or ICFR, we maintain a system of internal control

that is designed to provide reasonable assurance as to the fair

and reliable preparation and presentation of the consolidated

financial statements, as well as to safeguard assets from

unauthorized use or disposition that could have a material

effect on the financial statements.

Our management assessed the effectiveness of our internal

control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2025,

based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated

Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring

Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) (2013

framework). This evaluation included review of the

documentation of controls, evaluation of the design

effectiveness of controls, testing of the operating

effectiveness of controls and a conclusion on this evaluation.

Based on its assessment, our management believes that, as of

December 31, 2025, our internal control over financial

reporting is effective.

Ernst & Young LLP, an independent registered public

accounting firm, has issued an attestation report on Nasdaq’s

internal control over financial reporting, which is included

herein.

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Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting

Firm

To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of Nasdaq,

Inc.

Opinion on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

We have audited Nasdaq, Inc.’s internal control over

financial reporting as of December 31, 2025, based on

criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated

Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring

Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013

framework) (the COSO criteria). In our opinion, Nasdaq, Inc.

(the Company) maintained, in all material respects, effective

internal control over financial reporting as of December 31,

2025, based on the COSO criteria.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the

Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United

States) (PCAOB), the consolidated balance sheets of the

Company as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, the related

consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income,

changes in stockholders’ equity and cash flows for each of

the three years in the period ended December 31, 2025, and

the related notes and our report dated February 12, 2026

expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.

Basis for Opinion

The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining

effective internal control over financial reporting and for its

assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over

financial reporting included in the accompanying

Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial

Reporting . Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the

Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on

our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the

PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to

the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities

laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities

and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of

the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and

perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about

whether effective internal control over financial reporting

was maintained in all material respects.

Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal

control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a

material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design

and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the

assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we

considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that

our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over

Financial Reporting

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a

process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding

the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of

financial statements for external purposes in accordance with

generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s

internal control over financial reporting includes those

policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of

records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect

the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the

company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions

are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial

statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting

principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company

are being made only in accordance with authorizations of

management and directors of the company; and (3) provide

reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely

detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of

the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the

financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over

financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements.

Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future

periods are subject to the risk that controls may become

inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the

degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may

deteriorate.

/s/ Ernst & Young LLP

New York, New York

February 12, 2026

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