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On 17 September 2014, this year’s third meeting of the Exchange Council of the European Energy Exchange (EEX) was held in Leipzig. It was chaired by Dr. Michael Redanz, who stood in for Peter Heydecker, the Chairman of the Exchange Council. At the meeting, the introduction of new products was approved and the new software solution providing access to the EEX markets was presented.
The Exchange Council approved the introduction of Inter-Product Spreads on the T7 trading system, which will enable trading participants to trade price differences be- tween different delivery areas. On the power market, the three biggest and most liquid European markets for Germany, France and Italy are to be connected as a first step. The new Inter-Product Spreads will supplement the existing EEX offering of spread products on the Natural Gas Market, which is available via the PEGAS platform, and the currently tradable spreads between different delivery periods.
On the Power Market, the Exchange Council approved the introduction of trading in base-load futures for the Scandinavian price zone (Nordic Base Futures) and, hence, enables the Inter-Product Spread between the Nordic Base Future and the Phelix Fu- ture. “The introduction of exchange trading for this market forms an important step for EEX in pursuing its aim of establishing a presence on all essential European markets”, explains Michael Redanz. “The combination of the new Inter-Product Spread with the very liquid German Power Market, in particular, results in completely new and diverse lines of action for the trading participants. This further increases the appeal of the EEX markets.” Trading participants can already register trading transactions in Nordic Fu- tures concluded bilaterally for clearing on EEX in the framework of the Trade Regis- tration offering.
Furthermore, the new access to the exchange via the front-end by the service provider Trading Technologies, Inc. (TT), which EEX will provide to its participants from the fourth quarter of 2014, was also presented to the Exchange Council. This software of- fers participants secure and highly effective access to the Markets for Power Deriva- tives, the Spot and Derivatives Markets for Emission Allowances and the Markets for Coal and Guarantees of Origin on EEX. In this respect, both exchange trading and Trade Registration will be possible via the so-called “direct screen”. Upon its introduc- tion, the new front-end will replace the existing direct screen solution for these markets. The Exchange Council welcomed the introduction of the new technology as a future- oriented and user-friendly solution which will also enable the EEX customers to trade via mobile devices in the future.
In its meeting, the Exchange Council also dealt with the ongoing discussion on capaci- ty markets. In EEX’s opinion, capacity mechanisms are currently not necessary in Germany at the current point of time as the wholesale market for electricity is fully func- tional and ensures security of supply. In order to retain this situation, EEX considers the permission of real scarcity prices as being essential and points out that capacity mechanisms should comply with the overall goal of an integrated European internal market for electricity. The Exchange Council supports EEX in its call for a clear state- ment of the politics in favour of the market and the market price.
Furthermore, at its meeting, the Exchange Council also appointed Timothy Neil Green- wood as an additional Managing Director of the Exchange, in addition to Steffen Köhler and Dr. Tobias Paulun. Timothy Greenwood has been the Head of Sales Power & Emissions at EEX since 2009 and joined the company more than ten years ago.
The by-election of new members of the Exchange Council formed another item on the agenda of the Exchange Council meeting. Dr. Heiko Sanders, Chief Financial Officer, EWE Aktiengesellschaft, succeeded Raimund Otto, who resigned from the Exchange Council at the end of August. Additionally, Namesh Hansjee, Paul Goodhew and Brieux Raskin also resigned from the Exchange Council in the course of this year. Therefore, the Exchange Council elected Nicole Hildebrand, Vice President, Commodities,
Morgan Stanley, and Raphael Brun, Head of European Power, Citigroup, as their successors as representatives of the group comprising banks and financial service providers. On behalf of the Exchange Council, Dr. Redanz thanked the members who have resigned from the Exchange Council for their constructive and trust-based cooperation.
The Exchange Council of EEX is an official body of the exchange under the German Exchange Act. It consists of a total of 24 members who expertly represent the various relevant interest groups and business circles. In addition to the trading participants,
19 elected members from five different voting groups, four representatives from asso- ciations and one investors’ representative are members. The tasks of the Exchange Council include the formulation of the rules and regulations of the exchange and their amendments. The Exchange Council is also tasked with the supervision of the Management Board of the Exchange and the appointment of the Head of the Market Surveillance.
