Launch of Four (4) New Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) CO2 Allowance Futures with Specific Vintage Years on CME ClearPort and the NYMEX Trading Floor

On Sunday, January 24, 2010 for trade date Monday, January 25, 2010, New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. (“NYMEX” or “Exchange”) will launch four (4) new Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) CO2 Allowance Futures, for vintage years 2009 through 2012, for trading on the NYMEX trading floor and for submission for clearing through CME ClearPort.

Clearing services for these contracts will be available through CME ClearPort, a set of flexible clearing services open to over the counter (OTC) market participants to substantially mitigate counterparty risk and provide capital efficiencies across asset classes.  These contracts are listed by NYMEX, and are subject to NYMEX rules and regulations. 

These new RGGI CO2 Allowance Futures contracts with specific vintage years accommodate for delivery of allowances with a vintage corresponding to the specific vintage year of the terminating contract period.

The four (4) new contracts, commodity codes, listed months, and rule chapter are listed below:

The contract unit shall be one thousand (1,000) RGGI CO2 allowances for a delivery made by transfer through the RGGI CO2 Allowance Tracking System.

Trading in the current delivery month shall cease at termination of the last business day of the contract month.

Prices shall be quoted in dollars and cents per allowance. The minimum price fluctuation shall be $0.01 per allowance ($10.00 per contract). There shall be no maximum price fluctuations.

The fees for these contracts which will be waived until March 31, 2010 are as follows:

Should you have any questions or require any further information, please contact Brad Leach at 212-299-2609 or Adila Mchich at 212-299-2270.