Two exchanges will begin clearing over-the-counter agricultural swaps by next month. So far, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has only rarely permitted such contracts to be cleared.
Start-up exchange Agora-X has launched its platform, while Intercontinental Exchange said it would begin clearing OTC soft commodity swaps in January 2009. They will join the New York Mercantile Exchange, which has offered OTC swaps on soft commodities since 2006.
Agora-X, an OTC platform owned in part by Nasdaq OMX and futures broker FC Stone,...