EC tightening of carbon spot market could threaten forward market

The European Commission looks set to tighten carbon market regulation in an effort to boost its tarnished reputation, but market participants say current proposals could pose risks to forward market trading.

EC proposals include a potential 48-hour delivery delay to spot transactions to allow for stronger checks on identity and balances for registry account holders.

But Barclays Capital carbon analyst Trevor Sikorski says this could pose problems because it is difficult for registries to disting