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Kentucky Hemp Processor to Participate on New Commodity Futures Trading Platform
Chicago, IL Wednesday September 28, 2016: William Hilliard, CEO of Atalo Holdings, Inc., the largest hemp co-operative in the country, announced how his company expects to operate on Seed SEF, a new swap exchange facility operated by SEED CX and regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The announcement was made during an informational meeting held in Chicago by Seed SEF to describe the industrial hemp contracts.
Seed SEF is an institutional trading platform regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). A Swap Execution Facility (SEF) allows the trading of forwards, swaps and options for Eligible Contract Participants (ECPs). Seed operates a non-intermediated model, which means that each participant connects directly to the exchange. Edward Woodford and Brian Liston founded Seed as graduate researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Seed SEF is backed by a consortium of farming groups and exchange liquidity providers.
According to board member John D’Agostino,”Seed SEF is addressing the next generation of vital agricultural commodities in a modern and efficient format that works for today’s market participants and exchanges. Firms like Seed SEF provide crucial innovation around managing under-served commodity risk.” Mr. D’Agostino is well versed in launching new markets and brings experience from previously helping build the Dubai Mercantile Exchange.
William Hilliard, CEO of Atalo Holdings, Inc., is enthusiastic about the Seed SEF platform. “We are a processor and manufacturer of industrial hemp-based products with a large grower group and a Hemp Research Campus located in Winchester, Kentucky,” said Hilliard. “Our mandate from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture is to research the efficacy of industrial hemp, from the cultivar to the consumer, as an area of economic development and as another crop in the rotation for Kentucky farmers. The Seed SEF platform adds legitimacy to industrial hemp as a commodity. The ability to lock in price and mitigate risk through the use of derivative contracts traded on Seed CX may help establish market stability. Seed SEF has been approved and is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and we’re happy to be involved in the early stages of the development of the platform.”
ABOUT SEED SEF
Seed SEF’s goal is to use derivative tools to cultivate financial security in emerging agricultural markets, with idiosyncratic production risks. Seed’s focus is on providing innovative means to secure operational stability for hedgers and new trading opportunities for speculators. Seed SEF operates in areas where there have been recent regulatory shifts, which present the potential to innovate in new or obscure markets.
ABOUT ATALO HOLDINGS, INC.
Atalo Holdings, Inc., is an industry leader with transformative technologies for agricultural hemp and crop science. Our Hemp Research Campus incubates seed improvement, agronomics, processing, and commercialization techniques from its home in Winchester, Kentucky. We develop scalable technologies for sustainable, alternative protein and food-based wellness solutions in the emerging hemp industry.
Subsidiary companies Super Food Processing and KentuckyCBD create wholesale and retail products for food and wellness, specializing in hemp-based protein and cannabidiol (CBD). Our retail food line, Jake’s Best, can be found where good foods are sold. Kentucky Hemp Seed R&D creates improved agronomics, as well as proprietary seed and production equipment, incubating a new age of innovation and investment in industrial hemp.
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Contact: Arthur Rouse
Atalo Holdings