Embargoed until May 30, 2001, 9 a.m. EST
Laurie Glenn-Gista, 312 946 1900 x. 216
Michael
Walsh, 312 554 3380
Alice LeBlanc, 202 261 1366
U.S. VOLUNTARY CARBON TRADING MARKET EMERGING
25 Leaders from Energy, Industrial, Farm and Forest Sectors to Design
New Chicago Climate Exchangesm
Voluntary trading of greenhouse gas credits could help address climate
change, according to the results of a study announced today by Chicago-based
Environmental Financial Products. A diverse group of major firms has indicated
their intent to participate in the design phase of a voluntary pilot trading
market, the Chicago Climate Exchangesm. The project is spearheaded by
Dr. Richard L. Sandor, who has developed innovative commodity and environmental
markets, and was honored by the Chicago Board of Trade and the City of Chicago
for his universal recognition as the “father of financial futures.”
The study suggests a goal of reducing participants’ greenhouse gas
emissions, including carbon dioxide, by 5% below 1999 levels over 5 years.
Such emissions are widely agreed to cause climate change and possibly
global warming. The announcement
comes as the U.S. enters a major debate on energy use and endeavors to develop a
policy to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
The
feasibility study for the Chicago Climate Exchangesm was funded by
the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation through a special $347,000 Millennium
Initiative grant to the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern
University. “Our findings suggest that a voluntary pilot market, starting in
the U.S. Midwest, is feasible and can be expanded over time,” said study
author Sandor, who is a visiting scholar at the Kellogg School and CEO of
Environmental Financial Products. “The
widespread corporate interest in preparing rules and regulations for this
voluntary market affirms the private sector's demand for flexible, market-based
mechanisms to address climate change.”
Trading would help cost-effectively reduce greenhouse emissions and
offers new opportunities for environment-based income for farmers, foresters and
renewable energy firms. Twenty-five
companies and non-profits have agreed to participate in the market design phase,
including Ford, DuPont, Suncor Energy, STMicroelectronics, Temple-Inland,
International Paper, Alliant Energy, Calpine, Cinergy, NiSource, PG&E
National Energy Group, Wisconsin Energy, ZAPCO, Agriliance and Growmark. (Complete list is attached).
A high-level Advisory Board consisting of academic, business,
environmental and public sector leaders was formed with the objective of
gathering strategic input. Its
members include former U.S. Senators and Governors, the Deans of two leading
U.S. business schools, a world-renowned conservation biologist, heads of major
financial exchanges and the former Under-Secretary General of the United
Nations. (Short biographies are
provided).
The
notion of trading carbon emissions has long been debated, but the proposed
Chicago Climate Exchangesm offers the first test of the concept on a
scale that has global potential. The
Midwest is a promising location for starting the market because of its 20% share
of the U.S. economy and greenhouse gas emissions, its mix of manufacturing,
transport, energy, agriculture and forestry sectors, and its extensive
international linkages. A
representative carbon trading market can yield lessons that may be relevant for
economies worldwide for the next century.
“The
Chicago Climate Exchange would represent a major step forward while an
appropriate regulatory framework for greenhouse gases evolves,” said Joyce
Foundation President Paula DiPerna. “A
regional success on a global challenge like climate change could be
transformational. Because of its variety of economic activities, including its
strong agricultural sector, the Midwest is the perfect place to begin
demonstrating the regional-global interface.”
As proposed, the
Exchange could:
§
demonstrate that greenhouse
gas trading can achieve real reductions in emissions across different business
sectors;
§
help discover the price of
reducing greenhouse gases;
§ develop the standard frameworks for monitoring emissions, determining offsets and conducting trades needed for a successful market.
How
the Market Would Work
The study proposes starting the market in seven Midwest states (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin), including emission offset projects in Brazil, and expanding over time. Participating companies would be issued tradable emission allowances. Emitting firms would commit to a phased schedule for reducing their emissions 5% by 2005. They could then either directly cut their emissions, or buy allowances from companies that have achieved surplus reductions, or buy credits from agricultural or other offset projects. Potential offset projects include renewable energy systems, such as wind and solar power, and capture and use of agricultural and landfill methane. Offsets can also be generated by carbon sequestration projects such as forest expansion and conservation soil management, which effectively remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Benefits for Farmers
The potential benefits that a carbon market can offer
farmers was the subject of a March hearing on Biomass and Environmental Trading
before the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee, at which Sandor was invited to
testify by Committee Chairman Richard G. Lugar (R-Indiana).
Three agricultural cooperative groups, as well as IGF Insurance and the
Iowa Farm Bureau Federation have agreed to participate in the design phase of
the Chicago Climate Exchangesm.
“Environmental Trading can be a successful way of reducing the cost of
environmental compliance.” Senator
Lugar stated.
“Most of the
actions needed to begin reducing the risk of climate change will have to be
undertaken by the private sector, so a market developed by a private association
can be an important part of the overall solution,” said Sandor.
With assets of roughly $900 million, the Joyce Foundation is known for
its strategic public policy grantmaking intended to enhance the quality of life
in the Midwest. The Foundation has been a longtime funder of efforts to protect
and enhance the natural environment of the Great Lakes region. The Foundation's
other programs are focused in Education, Employment, Gun Violence Prevention,
Money and Politics, and Culture.
The
feasibility study for the Chicago Climate Exchangesm was funded
through a grant to the Kellogg School to support Dr. Sandor’s work.
The grant was one of a series of Joyce Millennium Initiatives begun in
2000. Ranging between $250,000 and
$1 million, the Millennium Initiatives are “intergenerational” — intended
to reinforce and carry forward landmark achievements of the twentieth century,
as well as promote bold, change-oriented initiatives for the century to come.
“The generation that most benefited from the industrialization that is
likely the cause of climate change has an intergenerational responsibility to
address the problem rather than just passing it on,” said DiPerna.
Senator
Joe Lieberman (D-Connecticut), added, "Global warming is a real and
present danger. Our Earth is slowly
overheating, with potentially dire consequences if we do not act. Carbon trading
is a creative and efficient way of moving toward meaningful reductions in
greenhouse gas emissions. I commend
the companies for their willingness to participate in this cutting edge
endeavor."
Attachments:
Agriliance: Agriliance
is a partnership of agricultural producer-owners, local cooperatives and
regional cooperatives. Agriliance
offers crop nutrients, crop protection products, seeds, information management,
and crop technical services to producers and ranchers in all 50 states as well
as Canada and Mexico. It has sales
and marketing offices in St. Paul, Minn., and Kansas City, Mo. Agriliance, LLC
was formed on February 3, 2000, as an agronomy marketing joint venture between
Cenex Harvest States Cooperatives, Farmland Industries, Inc. and Land O'Lakes,
Inc.
Alliant Energy: Alliant Energy Corporation is a growing
energy-service provider with both domestic and international operations.
Headquartered in Madison, Wis., Alliant Energy provides electric, natural
gas, water and steam services to more than two million customers worldwide.
Alliant Energy Resources Inc., the home of the company's non-regulated
businesses, has operations and investments throughout the United States, as well
as Australia, Brazil, China, Mexico and New Zealand.
Calpine: Headquartered in San Jose, CA, Calpine has an energy
portfolio comprised of 50 energy centers, with net ownership capacity of 5,900
megawatts. Located in key power
markets throughout the United States, these centers produce enough energy to
meet the electrical needs of close to six million households. Calpine was ranked 25th among FORTUNE magazine's
100 fastest growing companies and it was recently ranked by Business Week as the
3rd best performing stock in the S&P 500.
Carr Futures/Crédit Agricole Indosuez: Carr Futures, a subsidiary
of Crédit Agricole Indosuez, is a global institutional brokerage firm
headquartered in Chicago. Carr holds memberships on all major futures and
equity markets worldwide, and consistently ranks among the largest futures
brokerage firms in the world.
Cinergy Corp.: Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, Cinergy Corp. is one of
the leading diversified energy companies in the U.S. Its largest operating
companies, The Cincinnati Gas & Electric Company (Ohio), Union Light, Heat
& Power (Kentucky), Lawrenceburg Gas (Indiana), and PSI Energy, Inc.
(Indiana), serve more than 1.5 million electric customers and 500,000 gas
customers located in a 25,000-square-mile service territory encompassing
portions of Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.
The interconnections of Cinergy's Midwestern transmission assets give it
access to 37 percent of the total U.S. energy consumption.
DuPont: DuPont is a science company, delivering science-based
solutions that make a
difference in people's lives in food and nutrition, health care, apparel, home
and construction, electronics, and transportation. Founded in 1802, the company
operates in 70 countries and has 93,000 employees.
Ford Motor Company: is the world’s second largest automotive
company. Its Automotive operations
include: Ford, Mercury and TH!NK brands; wholly owned subsidiaries Volvo,
Jaguar, Aston Martin and Land Rover; Mazda (33 percent ownership); and Quality
Care and Kwik-Fit. Ford Financial
Services, providing automotive financing and other services, and The Hertz
Corporation, providing car rental services, are the other major components of
Ford Motor Company. Ford’s vision
is to become the world’s leading consumer company for automotive products and
services. Ford Motor Company cares
about preserving the environment for future generations, and is dedicated to
providing ingenious environmental solutions that will position them as a leader
in the automotive industry of the 21st century and contribute to a
sustainable planet.
GROWMARK, Inc.: GROWMARK, headquartered in Bloomington,
Illinois, is a federated regional cooperative that provides agriculture-related
products and services primarily in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Ontario,
Canada. FS-brand farm supplies and related services are marketed to farmers in
these areas by nearly 100 GROWMARK member cooperatives. Visit the GROWMARK Web
site at www.fssystem.com.
IGF Insurance Company: IGF Insurance Company is the fifth-largest
crop insurance company. IGF serves farmers in 46 states and maintains eight
service offices nationwide. IGF
prides itself in developing niche products for farmers' risk management needs.
International Paper: With over 12 million acres of land
managed in the United States alone, International Paper is one of the world’s
largest private landowners. International IP has significant global
businesses in paper and paper distribution, packaging and forest products,
including building materials.
Iowa Farm Bureau Federation: The Iowa Farm Bureau is a Federation of
100 county Farm Bureaus in Iowa. The
organization was founded in 1918 and is currently comprised of more than 154,000
member families throughout the state. Numerous
legislative, educational and service-to-member programs are provided for the
members’ benefit. The Iowa Farm
Bureau’s mission is to help farm families prosper and improve their quality of
life. It is an independent,
non-governmental, voluntary organization. It
is local, statewide, national and international in its scope and influence and
is nonpartisan, nonsectarian and nonsecret in character.
IT Group, Inc. is a provider of diversified, value-added services in
the areas of consulting, engineering and construction, remediation and
facilities management. Through the Company's diverse group of highly specialized
companies, clients can take advantage of a single, fully integrated delivery
system and expertise to meet their global environmental needs. Its broad range
of services includes the identification of contaminants in soil, air and water
and the subsequent design and execution of remedial solutions.
Midwest Generation: Headquartered in Chicago, Midwest Generation, a
subsidiary of Edison Mission Energy, owns 13 electricity generating units in
Illinois and Pennsylvania. With a total generating capacity of over 11,400
megawatts, Midwest Generation can generate enough electricity to meet the needs
of more than 13 million homes. Midwest Generation is exclusively in business to
sell wholesale power in competitive electricity markets.
The company is currently undertaking a major program to reduce emissions
from its coal-fired plants.
National Council of Farmer Cooperatives: NCFC’s mission is to protect the public policy environment
in which farmer-owned cooperative businesses operate, promote their economic
well-being, and provide leadership in cooperative education.
NCFC remains the only organization serving exclusively as the national
representative and advocate for America’s farmer-owned cooperative businesses.
NiSource Inc., is a holding company with headquarters in
Merrillville, Ind., whose operating companies engage in all phases of the
natural gas and electric business from exploration and production to
transmission, storage and distribution of natural gas, as well as electric
generation, transmission and distribution.
Its operation companies provide service to 3.6 million customers located
within the high-demand energy corridor that stretches from the Gulf of Mexico
through the Midwest to New England.
ORMAT: ORMAT is the world leader in distributed reliable remote
microturbine power units (also known as Closed Cycle Vapor Turbo Generators).
ORMAT's operations use locally available heat sources, including geothermal
energy (steam and hot water), industrial waste heat, solar energy, biomass, and
low grade fuels.
Pinnacle West Capital Corp: Based in Phoenix, Ariz., Pinnacle West
is the parent company of APS and Pinnacle West Energy. APS is Arizona's largest
and longest-serving electric utility, serving more than 857,000 customers, and
Pinnacle West Energy is the company's unregulated wholesale generating
subsidiary. Among the utilities listed in the S&P 500, Pinnacle West is
ranked in the top 10 percent for environmental performance by an international
investment advisory firm. The Company also is ranked in the top 10 percent by
Fortune magazine for total shareholder return over the last five years.
PG&E National Energy Group, headquartered in Bethesda, Md.,
develops, owns and operates electric generating and gas pipeline facilities and
provides energy trading, marketing and risk-management services in North
America. The National Energy Group
operates power production facilities with a capacity of about 7,000 megawatts,
with another 10,000 megawatts under development, and more than 1,300 miles of
natural gas transmission pipeline with a capacity of 2.7 billion cubic feet per
day. (PG&E National Energy
Group is not the same company as Pacific Gas and Electric Company, the
California utility, and is not regulated by the California Public Utilities
Comission.Customers of Pacific Gas and Electric Company do not have to buy
products or services from PG&E National Energy Group in order to continue to
receive quality regulated services from Pacific Gas and Electric Company.)
STMicroelectronics: STMicroelectronics is the world's third largest
independent semiconductor company whose shares are traded on the New York Stock
Exchange, on Euronext Paris and on the Milan Stock Exchange. The Company
designs, develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of semiconductor
integrated circuits (ICs) and discrete devices used in a wide variety of
microelectronic applications, including telecommunications systems, computer
systems, consumer products, automotive products and industrial automation and
control systems. In 2000, the Company's net revenues were $7.8 billion and net
earnings were $1.45 billion.
Suncor Energy, Inc. is a Canadian integrated energy company that
explores for, acquires, produces, and markets crude oil and natural gas, refines
crude oil, and markets petroleum and petrochemical products. Suncor has three
principal business units: Oil Sands, Exploration and Production, and Sunoco. Oil
Sands produces light sweet and light sour crude oil, diesel fuel and various
custom blends from oil sands and markets these products in Canada and the United
States. Exploration and Production explores for, acquires, develops, produces
and markets crude oil in Canada and natural gas throughout North America. Sunoco
refines and markets crude oil and a broad range of petroleum and petrochemical
products in Ontario and the United States.
Swiss Re: Founded in 1863 in Zurich, Switzerland, Swiss Re is the
world's second largest reinsurer, with roughly 9,000 employees and gross
premiums in 2000 of CHF 26 billion (USD$15.3 billion). Standard & Poor's
gives the company its AAA rating; Moody's rates it Aaa. Swiss Re does business
from over 70 offices in 30 countries. The world over, Swiss Re offers insurers
and corporates: classic (re)insurance covers, alternative risk transfer (ART)
instruments, and a broad range of supplementary services for comprehensive risk
management.
Temple-Inland Inc.: is
a diversified forestry, forest products and financial services company.
Its three main operating divisions include a Paper Group, which
manufactures corrugated packaging products; a Building Products Group, which
manufactures a wide range of building products and manages the Company's forest
resources consisting of approximately 2.2 million acres of timberland in Texas,
Louisiana, Georgia and Alabama; and the Financial Services Group, which consists
of savings bank, mortgage banking, real estate, and insurance brokerage
activities.
The Nature Conservancy: The Nature Conservancy, a nonprofit
organization founded in 1951, is the world's largest private international
conservation group. TNC has protected over 12,089,000 acres of land in the
United States.
Wisconsin Energy Corporation, headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., is
an $8.4 billion holding company with a diversified portfolio of subsidiaries
engaged in electric generation; electric, gas, steam and water distribution;
pump manufacturing and other non-utility businesses. The corporation’s
utilities subsidiaries serve more than one million electric and 950,000 natural
gas customers in Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
ZAPCO: Zahren Alternative Power Corporation (ZAPCO) is among the
largest and most respected developers of Landfill Gas (LFG) projects in the
United States. ZAPCO is engaged in the development, financing, and operation of
a large and diverse group of LFG-based projects, including waste-to-energy
electricity systems, and has executed international trades of greenhouse gas
reductions involving over two million tons CO2 equivalent.
ZAPCO operates ten of its twenty-seven LFG projects in the Midwest U.S.
Biographies of the Chicago Climate Exchangesm Advisory Board
Members
David L. Boren is the President of the University of Oklahoma. Mr.
Boren has had a distinguished career in public service as a member of the
Oklahoma House of Representatives (1967-1975), Governor of Oklahoma (1975-1977)
and as a U.S. Senator (1979-1994). As a U.S. Senator, Mr. Boren was the
longest-serving Chairman of the Senate's Select Committee on Intelligence. Mr.
Boren was educated at Yale and attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.
He also earned a law degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Law.
Lucien Y. Bronicki is the Chairman of Ormat International, an
Israeli company leader in the field of innovative technology solutions to
geothermal power plants, power-generation from industrial waste heat and solar
energy projects. Mr. Bronicki has been Chairman of Ormat since he founded the
company in 1965. Mr. Bronicki holds various professional affiliations and
memberships, including Chairman World Energy Council’s Israeli National
Committee, Member of the Executive Committee of the Weizmann Institute of
Science and member of the Board of Ben Gurion University. He is also the
recipient of several business and science related awards.
Ernst Brugger is Founding Partner and Chairman of Brugger Hanser
& Partner Ltd. in Switzerland, a business consulting firm with international
experience and range. He is also a professor at the University of Zurich,
chairman and member of the board of various companies and a member of the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Dr. Brugger serves as Chairman
of the Board of Directors of Sustainable Performance Group, an investment and
risk management company which invests in pioneering and leading companies which
have taken up the cause of sustainable business
Jeffrey E. Garten is Dean of the Yale School of Management. Formerly
Garten served as undersecretary of commerce for international trade in the first
Clinton Administration. He
also held senior economic posts in the Ford and Carter administrations. From
1979 - 1992 he was a managing director first at Lehman Brothers, where he
oversaw the firm's Asian investment banking activities from Tokyo, and then at
the Blackstone Group. Currently Dr.
Garten writes a monthly columnist for Business Week. His latest book is "The Mind of the CEO"
(2001).
Donald P. Jacobs is Dean of the Kellogg Graduate School of
Management and its Gaylord Freeman Distinguished Professor of Banking. Under his
leadership, the Kellogg School has become a leader in the field of business and
finance and is consistently ranked as one of the top five business schools in
the United States. Dean Jacobs is a former Chairman of the Board of Amtrak
(1975-1979) and currently serves on several corporate boards. His work on
banking, corporate governance and international finance has been published in
many scholarly journals and he holds several honorary degrees and professional
awards.
Dennis Jennings
is the Global Risk Management Solutions Leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC)
Global Energy and Mining Industry Practice.
Mr. Jennings previously served as the Dallas/Fort Worth Energy Industry
Market Leader; Co-Chairman of the U.S. Oil and Gas Industry Program; and on
Steering Committee of the International Energy Practice. His
responsibilities have included leading PwC’s global risk management practice
for the energy and mining industry, providing financial advice and performing
due diligence reviews on numerous merger, acquisitions and divestiture efforts
by major international corporations.
Joseph P. Kennedy II is Chairman and President of Boston-based
Citizens Energy Group. Before returning to Citizens Energy, Mr. Kennedy
represented the 8th Congressional District of Massachusetts in the U.S. House of
Representatives for 12 years. Mr. Kennedy founded the non-profit company in 1979
to provide low-cost heating oil to the poor and elderly. Under his leadership,
Citizens grew to encompass seven separate companies, including the largest
energy conservation firm in the U.S. Mr.
Kennedy also advises and serves on the boards of several companies in the
energy, telecommunications, and health care industries. Mr. Kennedy is the son
of the late U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.
Israel Klabin is the president of the Brazilian Foundation for
Sustainable Development, a major Brazilian non-governmental organization devoted
to issues of environmental and sustainable development policy. Mr. Klabin is the
former chairman of Klabin SA, one of the largest forestry companies in Latin
America. He is a former mayor of Rio de Janeiro and was one of the main
Brazilian organizers of the United Nations Conference on the Environment (Rio
92). He is also actively involved in several philanthropical activities.
Bill Kurtis has had a distinguished career in broadcasting for
over 30 years, as a news anchor in Chicago and later of the national CBS
Morning News. He started his own company, Kurtis Productions, when he
returned to Chicago in the mid 1980's and currently hosts shows on the Arts and
Entertainment network. Mr. Kurtis is involved in The National Science Explorers
Program, Electronic Field Trips and the Electronic Long Distance Learning
Network, all aimed at teaching children about science. Mr. Kurtis and his shows
have been the recipients of several awards. He serves on the board of directors
of organizations devoted to natural history and the environment, including the
National Park Foundation, the Nature Conservancy and the Kansas State Historical
Society.
Jonathan
Lash is President of the World Resources Institute (WRI), a Washington,
DC-based non-governmental organization that provides solutions to global
environment and development problems. From 1993 until 1999, Mr. Lash served as
co-chair of the President's Council on Sustainable Development, a group of
government, business, labor, civil rights, and environmental leaders that
developed recommendations for national strategies to promote sustainable
development. For two years before joining WRI, Mr. Lash directed the
environmental law and policy program of the Vermont Law School. From 1987 to
1991, Mr. Lash headed the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, having served the
previous two years as Vermont's Commissioner of Environmental Conservation. He
is the author of several books on environmental topics.
Thomas E. Lovejoy, is a world-renowned tropical and conservation
biologist. Dr. Lovejoy is generally credited with having brought the tropical
forest problem to the fore as a public issue. In 1987, he was appointed
Assistant Secretary for Environmental and External Affairs for the Smithsonian
Institution and is Counselor to the Smithsonian’s Secretary for Biodiversity
and Environmental Affairs. Dr. Lovejoy is also Chief Biodiversity Advisor to the
President of the World Bank. From 1989 to 1992, he served on the President's
Council of Advisors in Science and Technology (PCAST), and acted as scientific
adviser to the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme
(1994-97). He was the World Wildlife Fund's Executive Vice President from 1985
to 1987. Dr. Lovejoy is the author
of numerous articles and books.
David Moran is vice president of ventures for the Electronic
Publishing group of Dow Jones & Company and president of Dow Jones Indexes.
Mr. Moran is also President of Dow Jones Indexes, which includes all Dow
Jones indexes for countries, regions, sectors and industry groups as well as the
world index. He is also chairman of Dow Jones Sustainability Group Index GmbH.
Prior to joining Dow Jones, Mr. Moran was an associate with Patterson, Belknap,
Webb & Tyler, a New York City law firm, from 1979 to 1985.
Les Rosenthal is a former Chairman of the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT)
and a principal of Rosenthal Collins, a leading Chicago-based commodities and
futures trading firm. During his time as member of the Board and Chairman of the
CBOT, Mr. Rosenthal was instrumental in advancing the cause of new and
innovative exchange-traded products such as Treasury Bond futures and insurance
derivatives.
Maurice Strong is a former Secretary General of the 1992 United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development (the Rio Earth Summit) and
Under-Secretary General of the United Nations. He is currently the Chairman of
the Earth Council, a non-governmental organization dedicated to the cause of
sustainable development. In June of
1995, he was named Senior Advisor to the President of the World Bank. From
December 1992 until December 1995, Mr. Strong was Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of Ontario Hydro, one of North America's largest utilities. Mr. Strong
is an advisor to the United Nations, and has been a director and/or officer of a
number of Canadian, U.S. and international corporations.
James R. Thompson is a former four-term Governor of Illinois and
currently a managing partner of Winston and Strawn. During his last term as
Governor, Mr. Thompson was involved in the implementation of the sulfur dioxide
(SO2) market created by the 1990 Clean Air Act. During his last term
as Governor he was the Head of the Global Climate Change Task Force at the
National Governors' Association (1988-1989). Governor Thompson is also a
director of the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT).
Brian Williamson is the Chairman of the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE), one of the world’s largest exchanges. Mr. Williamson has been involved in trading financial futures for almost three decades in London, New York and Chicago. He held senior executive positions for prominent trading firms and was a member of the International Advisory Board of the Nasdaq Stock Market, becoming Chairman in 1996. He was also Governor-at-Large of the National Association of Securities Dealers in Washington DC. (1995-1998).