NYSE pulls plan for environmentally sustainable asset class

(Reuters) - The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has withdrawn from the Securities and Exchange Commission a proposal to create a new tradeable asset class called "natural asset companies", or NACs, the commission said on Wednesday.

The asset class was to be based on sustainable enterprises that hold the rights to ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration, produced by natural, working, or hybrid lands.

The NYSE, which is owned by Intercontinental Exchange Inc, in 2023 had proposed to the SEC a rule change to adopt the new listing standard.

Intercontinental Exchange did not immediately reply to a request for comment about NYSE's withdrawal of the proposed rule change.

In a press release, Utah State Treasurer Marlo Oaks applauded NYSE's withdrawal of its plan.

"Under the proposal, private interests, including foreign-controlled sovereign wealth funds, could use their capital to purchase or manage farmland, national and state parks, and other mineral-rich areas and stop essential economic activities like farming, grazing, and energy extraction," Oaks said.

(Reporting by Noel Randewich; Editing by Sonali Paul)