VOLUNTARY CARBON MARKET (VCM)

CFTC VCM CONVENING 

JULY 2023

JOHN P. BATTAGLIA, MD/GLOBAL HEAD CARBON MARKETS 

BGC ENVIRONMENTAL BROKERAGE SERVICES, LP 
Date

Agenda

• Introduction to BGC Partners

• Overview of BGC’s Involvement in the VCM 

• Brief Observations on VCM Activity & Market 

Structure 
Date

BGC Partners: Talent + Technology 

• BGC Group (BGC) is a leading financial technology and global brokerage servicing the wholesale financial and 

commodity markets. 

• BGC provides voice-assisted + electronic trade execution + advisory services to global markets across all asset 

classes.

• History

• Originally part of Cantor Fitzgerald (CF)

• 2004: BGC spun off CF, goes public (NASDAQ: BGCP)

• 2008: BGC merges with eSpeed to become BGC Partners, Inc.

• 2011: BGC enters the commercial real estate market with the acquisition of Newmark Knight Frank; Newmark 

spun off in 2018 (NASDAQ: NMRK) 

• 2021: BGC Revenues – $2.01 billion USD 

• IG credit rating, 9,000+ employees, headquartered in London & New York, with offices in 20+ major global 

markets

• 2023: completes a corporate conversion to BGC Group (new NASDAQ ticker: ‘BGC’)

• Markets

• Commodities, Equities, Fixed Income, Interest Rate Swaps, FX, Various Derivatives, Structured Products
Date

A GROWING GLOBAL PRESENCE

4
Date

• Founded in 2001, Cantor CO2e was the oldest emission credit broker globally (acquired by BGCP in 2011) –

provides voice brokerage and advisory services in the environmental and energy commodity markets 

• Carbon Trading Programs

– European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS)

– United Kingdom Emissions Trading Scheme (UK-ETS)

– Western Climate Initiative (WCI)

• California, Quebec 

– Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) 

• New York, Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, 

Connecticut, New Jersey

– Alberta TIER Regulation

– Washington Cap & Invest Program (WCA)

– California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS)

– Oregon Clean Fuels Program (CFP) 

• Other Environmental Markets 

– Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) 

– Various voluntary and compliance Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) programs 

– EPA NOx & SO2 markets

– US Emission Reduction Credit (ERC) markets

– Biogas/RNG

BGC ENVIRONMENTAL BROKERAGE SERVICES (EBS) 
Date

Each annual Charity Day, BGC Partners and its affiliate Cantor Fitzgerald, donate all revenues on the day to dozens of 

charities around the world. Many celebrity guests join our brokers on BGC’s trading floors in NY & London. Since its 

inception, Charity Day has raised approximately $137 million, globally.

BGC CHARITY DAY: 2022 
Date

7

BANKS I-BANKS TRADING FIRMS

CORPORATIONS GOVERNMENTS INVESTORS

CORPORATIONS GOVERNMENTS INSTITUTIONAL CAPITAL

BANKS PROJECT DEVELOPERS TRADING FIRMS & FUNDS

7

BANKS PROJECT DEVELOPERS TRADING FIRMS & FUNDS

CORPORATIONS INVESTORS INSTITUTIONAL CAPITAL

BGC & THE VCM - A LEADING INTER-DEALER BROKER

•Give up to 

exchange (block) 

•Name Give up (OTC 

matching) 

•Match/Cleared BGC

Voice 

Execution 
Date

8

8

VCM OBSERVATIONS Risks• Quality concerns result 

in prolonged inaction

which effectively 

accelerates the worst 

effects of CC

• Diversion of significant 

financing away from 

conservation efforts 

• Further dislocation of 

resources & confusion 

in the market effectively 

reducing scale & 

innovation

Scale• Market must scale 

significantly in a short 

amount of time to 

deliver the reductions 

and avoidances 

required to avoid the 

worst effects of CC

• Standardization and 

universally adopted 

quality standards in 

carbon offsets could 

help drive scale in the 

market

Standardization• Defining quality 

benchmarks such as 

those defined in existing 

markets (precious 

metals or oil) w OTC 

trading as a differential 

to defined benchmarks 

• Exchanges/trading 

venues can list 

benchmark contracts 

once the market 

coalesces around them

• Regulators, including 

the CFTC & SEC can help 

define these 

benchmarks
Date

DISCLAIMER

BGC, BGC Trader, Grubb & Ellis, Grubb and Newmark are trademarks and service marks of BGC Partners, Inc. and its affiliates. Knight Frank is a service 

mark of Knight Frank Limited Corp., used with permission.

Discussion of Forward-Looking Statements by BGC Partners 

Statements in this press release regarding BGC Partners' business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and 

uncertainties. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forwardlooking statements, see BGC Partners' Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors set forth in BGC's 

public filings, including our most recent Form 10-K and any updates to such risk factors contained in subsequent Form 10-Q or Form 8-K filings.

Distributable Earnings

This presentation should be read in conjunction with BGC’s most recent financial results press release. Unless otherwise stated, throughout this 

presentation we refer to our results only on a distributable earnings basis. For a complete description of this term and how, when and why 

management uses it, see the final page of this presentation. For both this description and a reconciliation to GAAP, see the sections of BGC’s most 

recent financial results press release entitled “Distributable Earnings,” “Distributable Earnings Results Compared with GAAP Results”, and “Reconciliation 

of GAAP Income to Distributable Earnings”, which are incorporated by reference, and available in the “Investor Relations” section of our website at: 

www.bgcpartners.com

© 2013 BGC Partners, Inc. All rights reserved.

9