Last week, Nasdaq filed with the SEC a proposed rule change that finally recognized the reality that compliance with the “all-caps” presentation of “NASDAQ,” as in “The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC,” has been inconsistent at best and negligible at worst.
Sometimes, noncompliance has been inadvertent or unwitting (reflecting confusion with Nasdaq, Inc., the parent of the Exchange), and sometimes, due to the strangely conspicuous and inartful appearance on the page of multiple “NASDAQs,” it has been willful (at least, admittedly, in this writer’s case). The modification, which conforms the presentation of the name of the Exchange to that of its parent, changes references from “NASDAQ” to “Nasdaq” and from “The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC” or “NASDAQ Stock Market LLC” to “The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC” and so on. The change, which became effective immediately, was billed as a “non-substantive corporate branding change to the Exchange’s name.” Good idea.
