Green Exchange LLC (GreenX) today unveiled details of its California Carbon Allowance (CCA) futures contract. The contract will serve as a compliance and risk management tool for market participants operating within the California Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The California carbon market, set to become North America’s largest emissions program, aims to reduce state-wide emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.
GreenX intends to list the CCA futures contract for trading on CME Globex® and Over the Counter clearing through CME ClearPort® on Sunday, September 11th for trade date September 12th, 2011.
The contract has been developed in close consultation with market participants and will contain the following key specifications:
• Contract size will be 1,000 tons CO2 equivalent
• Contracts will be listed on an annual expiration cycle for the Dec 2012, Dec 2013 and Dec 2014 contract months
• GreenX will publish an end-of-trading day settlement price for all listed contract months
• Physical settlement against the delivery of CCAs that have been approved by the California Air Resources Board for purposes of compliance with the ETS
• All transactions will be cleared through CME Clearing
Tom Lewis, CEO of GreenX, commented: ”These are exciting times. California will be the world’s second largest carbon market and we intend to play a major role in its development. The launch of this contract demonstrates the continued commitment of GreenX to our global customer base and complements our existing range of environmental derivatives. We are listing an Exchange-traded futures contract of a product that is already trading in the OTC market, adding the benefits of transparency, mitigation of counterparty risk and a single pool of liquidity.”
In the event that the California ETS would not be in force by the time of the GreenX contract expiration in December 2012, open interest would roll one year (i.e. Dec 2012 positions are transferred to the corresponding Dec 2013 contract). In the event that the California ETS is not in force by December 2013, all contracts with open interest after the last day of trading will settle financially at the Auction Reserve Price for that year.
GreenX’s North American operations are overseen by Managing Director, John Melby. Based in San Diego, CA. Mr. Melby joined the Exchange in May 2011 and has been instrumental in the development of previous environmental products in California.
FTSE Mondo Visione Exchanges Index:
GreenX To Launch California Carbon Futures Contract
Date 19/07/2011