London (Platts)--25Jan2008

Bank of America has closed its Europe, Middle East and Africa commodities desk
based in London and pulled out of the coal market, according to market
sources.

It is believed the bank has blamed deteriorating conditions in the sub-prime
financial market for the desk closure and its need to refocus on its core
investment banking business.

Around 12 staff were believed to have been employed on the bank?s London
commodities desk which included coal trading. While Bank of America would not
confirm the closure, it said it was centralizing its commodities business in
the United States, where its core commodities clients are based.

A number of investment banks have recently entered the physical and paper coal
markets including Morgan Stanley, Macquarie and Merrill Lynch.