By Jonathan Spicer

Nasdaq has long complained that the prospect of losing those symbols has dissuaded companies from changing venues, and believes the branding victory will help it lure listings to its venue.

The battle revolved around NYSE's traditional ability to hang on to the rights to the one-, two- and three-character symbols -- also called "tickers," after the ticker tape on which trades were once listed -- of its listed companies.

Some NYSE-listed symbols -- IBM's "IBM," Citigroup's "C," General Motors' "GM" -- are seen as important and prestigious parts of the companies' brands.

U.S. regulators this week approved a plan spearheaded by Nasdaq parent company Nasdaq OMX Group allowing companies to hang on to their stock symbols if they switch venues.

"The plan allows issuers switching among competing markets to have the option to retain their trading symbol, often a critical part of their brand," Adena Friedman, Nasdaq's executive vice president, said in a statement on Friday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said in a brief statement on Thursday: "If an issuer transfers its listing to another exchange, the new exchange would automatically have the right to use the symbol."

The SEC rejected a proposal by NYSE parent NYSE Euronext that would have allowed NYSE and the American Stock Exchange, which NYSE now owns, to retain the rights to up to 200 symbols each.

LURING LISTINGS

Until recently, Nasdaq listed only four- and five-character symbols such as Microsoft's "MSFT." Three years ago, the exchange announced its intention to list shorter symbols, which the SEC noted had become scarce.

Many of those coveted symbols trade on the Big Board, the world's largest stock exchange by the market capitalization of listings. Nasdaq, which has more but generally smaller listings, has aggressively tried to lure companies away from NYSE with lower fees.

Nasdaq spokesman Wayne Lee said the exchange "had discussions with several NYSE-listed companies that considered but did not switch to Nasdaq due to the lack of portability of their ticker symbols."

Nasdaq said on Thursday that three listings from NYSE and 16 from AMEX had switched to its platform in the third quarter. Also, fellow exchange CME Group Inc , which was listed on both NYSE and Nasdaq, moved solely to Nasdaq.

Among those moving in the other direction, Nasdaq-listed jobs website operator Monster Worldwide Inc announced last week that it will begin trading on NYSE on Monday.

NYSE spokesman Rich Adamonis said NYSE anticipated the SEC's decision. "Symbols aside, there are many other attributes that distinguish the NYSE's value to our listed companies," he said.

BRANDING BUSINESS

Despite Nasdaq's lower listing fees, few companies have switched from NYSE, said Diego Perfumo, an analyst at Equity Research Desk, a Connecticut-based advisory firm specializing in exchanges.

"This proves that listings is a branding business and not a commoditized one," he said.

"Portability of the ticker may reduce switching costs, but I do not expect massive switches. Companies are driven by factors beyond costs to select a venue, (such as) the reputation of the venue and peer listings."

The SEC will also establish a third party to maintain a database for ticker symbols.

Nasdaq filed its proposal with the SEC in March 2007, backed by the National Stock Exchange, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, the Chicago Stock Exchange, and the National Association of Securities Dealers, which is now FINRA.

NYSE filed at the same time, supported by AMEX, the Chicago Board Options Exchange, the International Securities Exchange, the Boston Stock Exchange, and the Pacific Exchange, which is now NYSE Arca.

(Reporting by Jonathan Spicer; editing by John Wallace)