Lysaker, 28 February 2011
With reference to exchange and clearing information no 04/11 “Trading of EUA and CER spot contracts suspended” of 20 January 2011, NASDAQ OMX Commodities Europe announces the reopening of the European Union allowance (EUA) and certified emission reduction (CER) spot market on Tuesday 1 March 2011 at 08.00 CET.
With the reopening of the EUA and CER spot market, interim rules for trading and clearing of EUA and CER contracts have been implemented.
The purpose of the interim rules is to accommodate for and mitigate the effects of and risks associated with the recent market disturbances in the carbon market (EUAs and CERs), and to help maintain market integrity and confidence. The interim rules are implemented pending final regulation and outcome of the situation with, among others, the European Commission and the national Allowance Registries. The interim rules will come into effect immediately, and will remain in force until further notice.
Under the interim rules, the Clearinghouse will screen all delivered EUAs and CERs prior to forwarding them to buyers. The risk of buyers receiving instruments to which their rights are disputed will therefore be mitigated. Buyers are nevertheless advised to also make their own verifications, and will have a limited complaint period in the event that any unlawful EUAs or CERs are transferred to their account from the Clearinghouse.
Members should note that the delivery point for EUA and CER spot contracts has been changed from the DK registry to the UK registry. This is due to the temporary closure of the DK registry. The account number for the UK registry is GB-121-1158-0. This account must be used for all allowance transfers until further notice.
Please observe that sellers of EUA and CER contracts must have access to an open registry at the time of their delivery obligations. The closing or unavailability of allowance registries due to events that were foreseeable at the time of the transaction will not constitute an Allowance Force Majeure for applicable sellers. Allowances that are held with the DK registry are still unavailable at this point and cannot therefore be used e.g. for pre-delivery trading of EUA or CER spot contracts.
The interim provisions document can be found on www.nasdaqomxcommodities.com/trading/legalframework.
For further information, please contact NASDAQ OMX Commodities:
Press contact:
Trine Fersnes Riccardi, Director of Communications, Corporate Communications,
phone +47 6752 8080/+47 9574 7497
Legal issues:
Eivind Grimsø Moe, Associate General Counsel, + 47 6752 8084, eivind.moe@nasdaqomx.com
About NASDAQ OMX
The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. is the world's largest exchange company. It delivers trading, exchange technology and public company services across six continents, with more than 3,600 listed companies. NASDAQ OMX offers multiple capital raising solutions to companies around the globe, including its U.S. listings market, NASDAQ OMX Nordic, NASDAQ OMX Baltic, NASDAQ OMX First North, and the U.S. 144A sector. The company offers trading across multiple asset classes including equities, derivatives, debt, commodities, structured products and exchange-traded funds. NASDAQ OMX technology supports the operations of over 70 exchanges, clearing organizations and central securities depositories in more than 50 countries. NASDAQ OMX Nordic and NASDAQ OMX Baltic are not legal entities but describe the common offering from NASDAQ OMX exchanges in Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Iceland, Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius.
For more information about NASDAQ OMX, visit http://www.nasdaqomx.com. Please follow NASDAQ OMX on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/nasdaqomx) and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/nasdaqomx).
About NASDAQ OMX Commodities
NASDAQ OMX Commodities Europe is the trade name of NASDAQ OMX Oslo ASA which is authorized as a commodity derivatives exchange by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance and supervised by the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority.
All trades with NASDAQ OMX Commodities Europe are subject to clearing with NASDAQ OMX Stockholm 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.
For more information visit www.nasdaqomxcommodities.com.
NASDAQ OMX's Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The matters described herein contain forward-looking statements that are made under the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about NASDAQ OMX's products and offerings. We caution that these statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or other factors beyond NASDAQ OMX's control. These factors include, but are not limited to factors detailed in NASDAQ OMX's annual report on Form 10-K, and periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to release any revisions to any forward-looking statements.
This document is being directed solely at and may only be communicated to persons: (i) who have professional experience in matters relating to investments as defined in Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "FPO") or, (ii) who are high net worth companies, unincorporated associations and trustees of high value trusts within Article 49(2)(a)-(d) of the FPO, or (iii) to whom it may otherwise be lawful to distribute it (all such persons together being referred to as "Relevant Persons"). Any investment activity to which this document relates is available only to Relevant Persons and will be engaged in only with Relevant Persons.
