Miami International Holdings, Inc. to Vigorously Defend Frivolous Claims by Competitor

PRINCETON, New Jersey, Sept. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Miami International Holdings, Inc. (MIH), the parent holding company of the MIAX Options Exchange and MIAX PEARL, LLC (MIAX PEARL) today responded to the filing of a complaint with the District Court of New Jersey by Nasdaq, Inc., Nasdaq ISE, LLC, and FTEN, Inc. (collectively NASDAQ) against MIH and its wholly-owned subsidiaries Miami International Securities Exchange, LLC, MIAX PEARL and MIAX Technologies, LLC.  The complaint generally alleges various claims of patent infringement and trade secret appropriation by MIH and its subsidiaries.

"It has been brought to our attention that NASDAQ has filed a frivolous complaint against MIH today," stated Thomas P. Gallagher, Chairman and CEO of MIH.  "While we have not been formally served, we are fully committed to vigorously defending ourselves against these baseless allegations." 

"As highlighted in a recent article in Forbes, large businesses have engaged in a trend of abusing the court system to file frivolous patent claims against smaller companies as a bullying tactic."  Continued Gallagher, "We believe that NASDAQ's complaint is nothing more than a feeble attempt to stifle innovation by a smaller company that has had tremendous success over the past five years."

Mr. Gallagher further stated, "Many of our employees have been with us for between 6 to 10 years and we believe that the timing of NASDAQ's filing is very suspicious.  It is worth noting that NASDAQ, along with other competitors within our industry, unsuccessfully attempted to recruit the heart of our technology team over the past several years offering millions of dollars in cash and equity-based compensation to no avail.  Only after we continued our track record of unparalleled performance and strong growth did NASDAQ file a baseless complaint.  If the bullies at NASDAQ's New York City headquarters had a legitimate grievance against our company or our employees, why did NASDAQ's top management try to aggressively recruit these same employees over the past several years?  We have treasured honest and innovative employees in all aspects of our company, and I am outraged by this frivolous action and we will defend our company and our employees against this unethical and anticompetitive conduct.  These bullies are losing to us in technological innovation and will lose to us in court as well.  We fully intend to explore all legal avenues in response to NASDAQ's unfounded claims." 

For further information regarding MIAX Options and MIAX PEARL, please visit www.MIAXOptions.com or contact MIAX Trading Operations at [email protected]. 

About MIH and the MIAX Exchange Group

Miami International Holdings, Inc. (MIH) is the parent holding company of Miami International Securities Exchange, LLC (MIAX Options) and MIAX PEARL, LLC (MIAX PEARL and together with MIAX Options, the MIAX Exchange Group), two fully electronic options trading exchanges.

MIAX Options currently lists and trades options on over 2,700 multi-listed classes. MIAX Options' unparalleled system throughput is approximately 38 million quotes per second. The average latency for a single quote on MIAX Options is approximately 16.22 microseconds for a full round trip. At the 99^th and 99.9^th percentiles, the latency on MIAX Options is approximately 24.76 and 53.78 microseconds, respectively.

MIAX PEARL launched trading operations on February 6, 2017 and currently lists and trades options on over 2,700 multi-listed classes. The average latency for a single order on MIAX PEARL is approximately 24.72 microseconds for a round trip. At the 99^th and 99.9^th percentiles, the latency on MIAX PEARL is approximately 34.60 and 57.08 microseconds, respectively.

The MIAX Exchange Group has assembled a team with deep rooted experience in developing, operating and trading on options exchanges, and its trading platforms have been developed in-house and designed from the ground up for the unique functional and performance demands of derivatives trading. MIAX Options and MIAX PEARL leverage the MIAX Exchange Group's industry leading technology and infrastructure to provide their member firms with both traditional (MIAX Options) and maker-taker (MIAX PEARL) pricing structures. The MIAX Exchange Group's executive offices and National Operations Center are located in Princeton, N.J. The MIAX Exchange Group also maintains a Miami Operations Center in Miami, Fla., which contains the Miami Annual Meeting and Conference Center and the offices of MIAX Technologies, LLC (MIAX Technologies) and MIAX Global, LLC (MIAX Global).

In addition to MIAX Options and MIAX PEARL, MIH is the parent holding company of MIAX Technologies and MIAX Global. MIAX Technologies is MIH's technology subsidiary for the sale and/or license of the trading technology developed by the MIAX Exchange Group. MIAX Global focuses on merger, acquisition and joint venture activities of MIH. MIAX Global also provides technology and other services outside of North America, with its initial concentration being on Europe and Latin America. 

Disclaimer and Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase any securities of MIH, and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer; solicitation or sale would be unlawful. This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning the plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and other statements that are not historical or current facts of MIH, together with its subsidiaries, including MIAX Options (collectively, the Company). Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the possible or assumed future results of operations of the Company; the competitive position of the Company; potential growth opportunities available to the Company; the expectation with respect to securities, options and future markets and general economic conditions; the effects of competition on the Company's business; and the impact of future legislation and regulatory changes on the Company's business. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements.