NYMEX Holdings, the parent company of the New York Mercantile Exchange, has formed The Green Exchange venture with Evolution Markets, Morgan Stanley Capital Group, Credit Suisse, JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch, Tudor Investment Corp., ICAP and Constellation Energy.

The new exchange will offer a comprehensive range of environmental futures and options and will swap contracts for markets focused on solutions to climate change, renewable energy and other environmental challenges.

The Green Exchange products are expected to begin trading during the first quarter of 2008 and will be cleared by NYMEX. The Green Exchange venture is expected to launch as a U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission-regulated exchange during the first quarter of 2009, pending regulatory approval.

Initially, The Green Exchange intends to offer trading in global carbon-based contracts, such as carbon allowances under the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme, carbon credits under the U.N. Clean Development Mechanism and verified greenhouse gas emission reductions used in accordance with voluntary carbon standards. The Green Exchange will also offer contracts for U.S. SO2 and NOx emissions allowance trading programs, as well as contracts for national Green-e voluntary renewable energy certificates.

Products will be listed for trading on the CME Globex electronic trading platform and for clearing on the NYMEX ClearPort platform. All contracts will be cleared through the NYMEX clearinghouse as regulated futures contracts.

The Green Exchange venture intends to offset all of its electricity use with Green-e certified renewable energy credits and intends to offset its remaining non-power-related carbon emissions through the purchase of voluntary carbon credits, making the exchange fully carbon neutral.

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