Nasdaq Commodities to launch new European Power and Gas Markets, Mercuria to provide direct and sponsored access liquidity


Oslo and London, May 11, 2016Nasdaq Commodities is pleased to announce the establishment of 14 new energy markets in Europe on its exchange. The development was made possible through collaboration with Mercuria Energy Trading, one of the world’s largest independent energy and commodities groups.

While the new markets and instruments will be available to Nasdaq Commodities clients generally, they have been designed to work with Mercuria’s sponsored access business1 for OTC European Energy markets.

Mercuria will be providing liquidity from early Q316 and include: Monthly DS Futures in German, Dutch, UK, French, Belgian, Spanish and Italian Power. Also Dutch TTF, German NCG, German Gaspool, UK NBP, French Peg Nord, French TRS and Belgian ZBT gas.  The approximately 1,000 new instruments will cover everything from day-ahead to calendar year contracts.

The instruments and Nasdaq’s venues have achieved CFTC and European regulatory approval. The new markets will be listed on Nasdaq Oslo ASA and Nasdaq Clearing AB.

“Partnering with Nasdaq on this innovative initiative is important for Mercuria,” said Marco Dunand, CEO, Mercuria Energy Trading.” It will enable us to support Nasdaq’s growth in European commodities while aggressively scaling-up our sponsored access business with U.S.-person customers and those financial clients who only take cleared risk. As such, it’s another significant step in the expansion of our franchise businesses globally. ”

Chris Harding, Managing Director at Mercuria’s FCA-regulated unit in London commented: ‘‘Sponsored access clients will be able to access physical energy market liquidity in Mercuria’s name, and receive a cleared position on Nasdaq from us in return on an automated basis. We’re delighted this complex project has been completed alongside the deployment of our self-clearing infrastructure.”

Bjørn Sibbern, Global Head of Nasdaq Commodities, said: "This launch was born out of 18 months of collaborative work with Mercuria who has always had confidence in Nasdaq Commodities' ability to deliver an innovative solution for the European energy markets. Together we have created a seamless bridge between the physical OTC traded market and our regulated environment. We believe that this will greatly contribute to drive efficiency and liquidity within European energy markets and this launch gives proof that the energy market is ready for our transparent model and cleared environment.”

Nasdaq Commodities stated that ICIS will be the provider of indices for all gas products while power instruments will be settled against local spot auctions prices.

Rob Kolkman, Managing Director of ICIS, said:  “We are very pleased to be selected by Nasdaq as the information provider of choice, as ICIS continues to meet the high standards that is expected by the market and set by the International regulators. This reflects why ICIS holds the trust and recognition of our customers over our 30 years of experience in providing independent high quality pricing information, news, analysis and consulting services. ”

The Monthly DS Futures are cash settled futures with no cascading and no physical delivery. The cash settlement will occur on a monthly basis during the delivery period on the same dates as the settlement of physical power and gas contracts, i.e. the 20th calendar day the following month of delivery (the 10th bank day the following month of delivery in case of UK Power). The new energy products will be an extension of Nasdaq’s current global commodities business, which offers trading and clearing solutions for assets including power and carbon emission markets, tanker and dry cargo freight, fuel oil, seafood derivatives, iron ore, electricity certificates and clearing services, together with Nasdaq Commodities’ U.S. offering of oil, natural gas and U.S. power. An agreement for Mercuria to provide on-exchange liquidity to Nasdaq in these new products is also likely to be agreed shortly.

 

1 The term sponsored access business used here should not to be understood as Nasdaq’s electronic access arrangement under which a member of Nasdaq Nordic permits its clients to transmit Orders in the member’s membership identity directly to the Trading System.

 

About Nasdaq

Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) is a leading provider of trading, exchange technology, information and public company services across six continents. Through its diverse portfolio of solutions, Nasdaq enables customers to plan, optimize and execute their business vision with confidence, using proven technologies that provide transparency and insight for navigating today’s global capital markets.  As the creator of the world’s first electronic stock market, its technology powers more than 70 marketplaces in 50 countries, and 1 in 10 of the world's securities transactions. Nasdaq is home to more than 3,600 listed companies with a market value of over $8.8 trillion and more than 10,000 corporate clients. To learn more, visit www.nasdaq.com/ambition or www.nasdaqomx.com.

About Nasdaq Commodities

Nasdaq Commodities is the brand name for the worldwide suite of commodity related products and services offered by Nasdaq. The Nasdaq Commodities offerings include power, natural gas and carbon emission markets, tanker and dry cargo freight, fuel oil, seafood derivatives, iron ore, electricity certificates and clearing services.

Nasdaq Oslo ASA is the commodity derivatives exchange authorized by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance and supervised by the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority. All trades with Nasdaq Oslo ASA are subject to clearing with Nasdaq Clearing.

About Nasdaq Clearing

Nasdaq Clearing is the trade name of Nasdaq Clearing AB which is authorized and supervised as a multi-asset clearinghouse by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority in Sweden as well as authorized to conduct clearing operation in Norway by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance.

About Mercuria

Mercuria is one of the world’s largest independent energy and commodities groups. Mercuria, primarily focused on energy, is present all along the commodities value chain with activities forming a balanced combination of commodities flows and strategic assets. In 2014, Mercuria completed the acquisition of the J.P. Morgan Chase and Co. Physical Commodities Unit.

More than 1,000 people are operating from offices worldwide to sustain the Mercuria’s extensive business reach in more than 50 countries with their market knowledge, diversity, and experience. Mercuria's expertise covers all segments of the energy market, including associated environmental products, and extends to iron ore, dry-bulk freight, base metals and petrochemicals. 

About ICIS

ICIS is the world’s leading petrochemical market information provider with divisions spanning energy and fertilizers. The ICIS Energy portfolio covers key global markets such as LNG, power, carbon, renewables and natural gas. In addition to price benchmarks, ICIS delivers analytical forecasting and consulting services to a Global audience.

With over 30 years’ experience in providing market intelligence, ICIS has more than 800 staff based in Houston, Washington, New York, London, Montpellier, Karlsruhe, Milan, Mumbai, Singapore, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Yantai, Tokyo and Perth. Some 350 of ICIS’s staff are journalists engaged in reporting market prices and news, and ICIS is fully committed to upholding the highest journalistic principles of verification, corroboration and authentication. ICIS has a compliance framework that along with its methodologies and business processes adheres to the requirements of the IOSCO PRA Principles. 

 

Media contact Nasdaq Commodities:

Sara Aadnesen, phone +47 9060 0759, sara.aadnesen@nasdaq.com

 

Media contact Mercuria:

Matt J. Lauer, phone +41 79 172 4995, mlauer@mercuria.com

 

Media contact ICIS: 

Tara Sabanandan, phone +44 207 911 1713, tara.sabanandan@icis.com