Nasdaq Progressing On New Private-Market Exchange

The WSJ's Venture Capital Dispatch blog has been on top of what I think will be a big story in the next couple years. Any time you have a business that occupies a space at the interstices of regulation you have the opportunity for outsize returns on equity for the creators and all kinds of interesting effects for the end user. From Venture Capital Dispatch:

Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. is moving closer to launching an exchange where private company shareholders could sell their stock, Bruce Aust, executive vice president of Nasdaq’s corporate client group, said Tuesday.

Speaking at the Dow Jones VentureWire Technology Showcase in Redwood City, Calif., Aust said Nasdaq is exploring using the Boston Stock Exchange, which it purchased last year, to provide a liquidity option for venture-backed companies that are not yet ready for the public markets.

“I definitely think people are looking for alternative ways to exit,” Aust said in an interview afterwards. A regulated market run by Nasdaq would afford better protection to investors and the exchange is working with the Securities and Exchange Commission to gain approval, Aust said. He declined to say more about the plan but indicated that Nasdaq is making progress....MORE

Previously:

Venture Capital: Exits-"Secondary Markets Consolidate Already?"

Even if you include the $10 Bil. that Santander and Verisk raised this week, the IPO biz is not exactly red hot. A123's success was as much about the dearth of other opportunities in the sector as it was about the underpricing by the underwriters.

These secondary markets facilitate some liquidity but haven't really proven themselves yet.

We noted the green angle to secondary markets in "Private Equity, Venture Capital: "SharesPost Enables Trading of Green Startups"".

Here are the latest goings-on, from the WSJ's Venture Capital Dispatch blog...