Dive Brief:
- The Securities and Exchange Commission greenlit the nation’s first ever “green” stock exchange by giving final approval to the Green Impact Exchange.
- GIX expects to begin trading on the new platform in early 2026, according to a Monday press release. Public companies will be able to list themselves on GIX, alongside other stock exchanges, given they agree to adopt the exchange’s sustainability standards.
- The approval could be more representative of the current SEC’s approach to new market offerings, rather than its view on sustainability. While the agency has ceased defending its climate-risk disclosure rule in court, GIX is the second national exchange the commission has approved this year.
Dive Insight:
The Green Impact Exchange began seeking approval by submitting a Form 1 application to the SEC to register as a national securities exchange, which was published in the Federal Register in July. The SEC officially approved the exchange’s registration form on April 11, following an extension of the review process in January and amendments filed by GIX.
GIX said its exchange seeks to serve both sustainability-minded investors and companies focused on managing climate-related risks. The company focused on creating a sustainability-focused exchange due to their regulated nature, and investors will be able to rely that if a company is dual-listed on GIX, it has adopted the exchange’s principles, according to the company’s webpage.
The SEC said in its April 11 approval that it found the sustainability exchange’s proposed rules consistent with governing laws and that they “do not impose any burden on competition not necessary or appropriate.”
“Today’s approval order is an important step forward for sustainability-minded investors and companies,” GIX CEO and Co-Founder Dan Labovits said in the April 14 release. “We are grateful to the SEC Commissioners and staff for their thoughtful engagement throughout the application process, and their support for market-driven innovations that will improve capital formation.”
The exchange focuses on company leadership, stakeholders, goals, strategy, reporting and alignment with respect to sustainability, according to a FAQs page. GIX said companies and their boards should have public commitments to long-term sustainability and accountability mechanisms; the companies should have short-, medium- and long-term goals that “will lead to operating its business sustainably;” adopt a strategy to achieve sustainability goals and a commonly accepted reporting framework; and align sustainability commitments with the business operations.
The exchange’s president and co-founder, Charles Dolan, said in the release that exchanges like GIX, who serve the $35 trillion global sustainability market, “have a pivotal role to play” in connecting sustainability-focused investors and companies.
“Climate risk is business risk. It’s that simple,” Dolan said. “U.S. investors and companies are continuing to pursue sustainability because it makes financial and competitive sense.”
To begin, GIX will solely be a dual-listing platform for companies listed on other national exchanges. However, the company plans to later offer companies the option to use the platform as its main listing venue, according to its website’s FAQs page.
GIX becomes the second new national exchange targeting a 2026 launch, after the SEC signed off on the nation’s first Texas-based stock exchange at the end of March.
