The SEC has just greenlit the nation’s first ever green stock exchange by approving the Form 1 application for registration as a national securities exchange to the Green Impact Exchange, which goes by GIX.

The exchange calls itself the “new US equity exchange that will serve as the nexus between sustainably-minded companies and investors.”

The approval clears the way for the first stock market in the US dedicated to the emerging $35 trillion sustainability economy, and (according to its press release) GIX expects to begin trading on the new platform in early 2026. It will be a dual listing venue, with companies required to be listed on another exchange, but the exchange said it plans in the future to offer companies the option to use GIX as their primary listing venue.

GIX said its exchange seeks to serve both sustainability-minded investors and companies focused on managing climate-related risks. Investors will be able to rely on the fact that if a company is dual-listed on GIX, it has adopted the exchange’s principles, according to the company’s webpage.

“Today’s approval order is an important step forward for sustainability-minded investors and companies,” said GIX CEO and co-founder Dan Labovitz. “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. We look forward to launching the Green Impact Exchange.”

Background

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 in April, following an extension of the review process in January and amendments filed by GIX. The regulator said in its April 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.” 

A prospective GIX-listed company must also demonstrate that it is has a market value of listed securities of at least $50m for 90 consecutive trading days prior to the date of the listing application, stockholders’ equity of at least $4m and a market value of unrestricted securities of at least $15m, among other things.

According to the FAQs posted on its website, GIX says potential, listed companies and their boards should have:

• public commitments to long-term sustainability and accountability mechanisms;
• that 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 business operations.

Significance

It’s not a great idea to read too much into the approval in terms of an SEC sustainability message. The move likely reflects the SEC’s willingness to greenlight new market offerings and not stand in the way of new market players willing and able to meet its registration demands.

In other words, it’s not likely any kind of embrace of sustainability as a singular goal, particularly since the agency has ceased defending its climate-risk disclosure rule, calling it “costly and unnecessarily intrusive” (that’s the view of the majority of commissioners, anyway), and the SEC’s leadership has noted the shift in the Trump administration’s priorities in this area.

But it is significant that other new exchanges are also on their way.

The nation’s first Texas-based stock exchange (TXSE) filed its Form 1 application with the SEC in March, seeking registration as a national securities exchange. While the SEC has published TXSE’s Form 1 and exhibits, indicating it intends to grant the registration, it has not done so formally yet.