Coal at the centre of trading-revenue war

London

COAL may be under attack from the Paris climate deal and governments promising its demise, but the world's biggest exchanges covet the fuel more than ever.

The organic rock used to generate 40 per cent of the world's electricity is at the centre of a hard-fought battle for trading revenue in Europe between CME Group Inc and Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE). CME has been winning for the past three years as the Chicago-based bourse offered incentives to brokers and simpler trading. ICE, the dominant energy market in the region, cut fees to zero and bought a trading software provider to get direct access to brokers.