In the past month bankers and lawyers from Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase have streamed into a dark brick Washington office building where the future of finance is being shaped.
The high-powered visitors to the home of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission testify to its rise from an obscure US government agency to a global watchdog of financial derivatives, the scandal-hit Libor lending benchmark and physical commodities from oil to silver………………………………………..Full Article: Source

European authorities are close to agreeing on the final draft of markets abuse rules that will make the standard commodities market practice of trading on inside information illegal.
Commodities market players say the draft regulation, which will lay the ground work for jail terms for insider trading, could force them to reveal their trading strategies and undermine their businesses……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Although much of the recent focus has been on rules in the European Union and the US, other jurisdictions across the globe are also weighing changes to the way they regulate over-the-counter commodity derivatives. In some cases, these could have significant implications for market participants.
Over-the-counter commodity derivatives represent a tiny part of a big jigsaw puzzle. By the end of 2012, the size of the OTC commodity derivatives market stood at $2.6 trillion in notional value, according to the Basel-based Bank for International Settlements, while the wider OTC derivatives market represented a staggering $633 trillion………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Platts, the price reporting agency involved in a European investigation into potential manipulation of oil prices, has launched a strong attack on Brussels, saying European regulators are conducting their probe in an opaque way.
Jorge Montepeque, Platts global head of price reporting, told an oil industry conference in Kuala Lumpur that the European Commission had not provided the price reporting agency with any details about alleged manipulation………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Following the raids on the London office of the lead oil price publisher Platts over suspicions of manipulating oil prices in the market, the European Union has decided to introduce tough new rules that would effectively prevent price reporting agencies from operating.
Bloomberg has stated that the draft law is unlikely to take effect before 2014, but once approved and implemented it will give the job of regulating top benchmarks such as Libor and oil, to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), based in Paris………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The securities regulator of Bangladesh is planning to formulate norms in introducing commodities exchange as part of its efforts to provide a platform for producers to discover fair prices and hedge risks of their products. The platform would be mainly for agriculture produces as well as manufacturing products to be initiated with Jute, sugar and gold. Futures contracts among the traders would be set up on the platform.
Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) initiated the move following an amendment to the Securities and Exchange Ordinance 1969 in November last year, allowing establishment of a ‘commodity exchange’ in the country………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Forward Markets Commission (FMC), the commodity derivatives markets regulator, is planning to restrict the number of delivery centres in agri commodities to avoid some complexities in futures trading.
“Sometimes, a large number of delivery centres create problems. Hence, we want to restrict it for which the Commission is waiting for the final recommendations of the sub-committee of the advisory committee,” said Ramesh Abhishek, chairman, FMC………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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Oil-price manipulation may have wrought “huge” damage to consumers, the European Union’s antitrust chief said today, as he drew comparisons with EU investigations into rigging of bank rates including Libor.
While it’s too soon to draw conclusions from the May 14 raids on Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA), BP Plc (BP/), Statoil ASA (STL) and Platts, EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said both sets of probe target price manipulation through a reporting system……………………………………Full Article: Source

A recent central bank order allowing only jewelry exporters to use bank credit lines has hit gold imports, traders said Thursday. “Hardly any new bullion imports are coming through banks. Only consignments ordered before the new rule are coming through,” Suresh Hundia, former president of the Bombay Bullion Association and a bullion dealer, told The Wall Street Journal.
Until Monday, companies could place gold import orders with one of a few designated banks by paying a margin upfront and the rest on delivery………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Gold exchange traded funds (ETF), among the hottest financial products in recent times, may face a curious problem because of a recent RBI circular which bars the import of gold on a consignment basis for domestic use.
Authorised participants (APs) who create and redeem units backed by gold, and fund houses said this could crimp liquidity in the product and prevent growth of assets under management in quantity terms unless RBI clears the air on the issue………………………………………..Full Article: Source

European officials have begun investigating several big oil companies including Shell, BP and Norway’s Statoil over suspected attempts to manipulate global oil prices for more than a decade.
The European Commission said anti-trust officials had carried out unannounced inspections in three European countries on Tuesday………………………………………Full Article: Source

Archer Daniels Midland is the first commodities trading house to be enmeshed in the US anti-bribery law. It may not be the last.
The American company last week disclosed it had set aside $25m to cover potential penalties for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the law that the US Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission have in recent years started aggressively enforcing………………………………….Full Article: Source

Futures regulators are close to an agreement that would end a months-long standoff over a central plank of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law and finally bring more transparency to the trading of swaps, the complex financial contracts at the heart of the financial crisis.
The deal would represent a win for Wall Street’s biggest swaps dealers and a big compromise for Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Gary Gensler, who has been at loggerheads with a fellow Democratic commissioner over one part of the rule………………………………….Full Article: Source

Even though gold is said to have entered a bearish phase there is no respite for Indian consumers. They may end up paying more for the yellow metal if the RBI’s recent move to restrict banks’ bullion imports becomes effective.
Jewellers feel that the directive that allows banks to import bullion only on a consignment basis to meet the genuine needs of jewellers will completely jeopardise the gold supply in the domestic market. It may even push up the prices, which will subsequently be passed on to the consumers………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The world’s little-regulated and often secretive commodity trading houses could face new disclosure rules, and even capital requirements, because of their money lending activities, after a global regulatory watchdog’s review of “shadow banking”.
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) - a task force set up by the G20 group of major economies to improve global financial regulation in the wake of the 2008 crisis - has asked national and regional regulators to determine whether commodity traders should come under the scope of new rules………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Fed Chief Ben Bernanke must be pleased as punch that this is likely to be his last spring at the helm of the Federal Reserve. That’s because for five years now, an auspicious start to the new year has turned ugly by the time the cherry blossoms bloom along DC’s Tidal Basin.
Don’t be fooled by the headline-grabbing rally in stocks. Although the Dow and S&P 500 have been on a well-publicized tear, more disquieting signals are being flashed in the commodities markets around the globe — with everything from gold to silver to oil down more than double digits in percentage terms so far this year………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission may be taking a deeper look at the price of gold, after gold futures on Monday suffered their biggest one-day decline since the 1980s. At least that’s the take of Democratic CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton. Chilton told Bloomberg TV Wednesday that the drop doesn’t necessarily mean “anything nefarious” happened but whenever something like this happens “we got to look at it.”
“When you see such sharp move that is obviously something that raises our concern and we look at the trades and see what is going on,” he said…………………………………Full Article: Source

First of all, investment banks need to be installed as commercial traders in the silver market. Then, allow major futures exchanges to self-regulate. Next, establish a concentrated short position, whether hedged, or otherwise. Then encourage High frequency Trading and eliminate the human market makers with any sense of real value.
Welcome managed money that trades blindly and unemotionally based on technical indicators. This provides a universal status quo that is almost always wrong. Encourage confusion between the concepts of correlation and causation………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called for an end to the US$1.9 trillion in fossil fuel subsidies handed out worldwide each year.
A study commissioned by the organisation reveals that 8% of all government revenue globally is spent subsidising unsustainable energy with 40% of the $1.9 trillion total from advanced economies. The group’s Energy Subsidy Reform study found that an overhaul could have beneficial results for a nation’s economy………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A Swiss government investigation into the country’s $20 billion commodities sector has stopped short of proposing any new or tighter rules on trading companies as it seeks to prevent departures to Asian finance centres.
The long-awaited report published on Wednesday said that the sector’s 500 or so companies and about 10,000 employees contributed roughly 3.5 percent of Switzerland’s GDP and that the country needs to regulate the sector without chasing them away. Switzerland, home to commodities giants such as Glencore and Cargill, commissioned the report last year after left-wing politicians said that the traditionally secretive sector exposed the country to risks to its reputation………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Switzerland has sought to ­protect its central role in the commodities trading industry, rejecting calls for stringent regulation in the sector and opting instead to launch a consultation over a set of voluntary principles for the industry.
The Swiss government will publish on Wednesday a long-awaited report on the commodities industry, which includes groups such as Glencore, Vitol and Cargill with big offices in cities such as Geneva, Zug and Lugano. The report will stop short of calling for strict mandatory regulation, as campaigners have demanded, instead proposing a wide-ranging consultation about transparency and human rights, according to three people familiar with the discussions………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Perturbed by the possible negative implication of the proposed commodity transaction tax (CTT), the Finance Ministry has asked commodity derivatives market regulator the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) to do a detailed impact analysis of how CTT once implemented will affect commodity derivatives non-agri segment and submit the report to it.
The ministry had asked the FMC to submit the report by March 15. Since, the FMC chairman Ramesh Abhishek returned from abroad on Sunday, the report will now be submitted in a day or two. FMC chairman is also meeting consumer affairs minister where the issue of CTT could come up for discussion, said a source in the know………………………………………..Full Article: Source

U.S. futures regulators are looking into whether high-speed traders indulged in “wash trading,” a strategy in which they improperly buy and sell futures contracts without taking a position in the market, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the probes.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is investigating suspected wash trades by high-speed firms in futures contracts tied to crude oil, precious metals, agricultural commodities, and the S&P 500, among other underlying instruments, the people told the Journal. Wash trades are banned under U.S. futures law………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Commodities fell as Cyprus rekindled concern that Europe’s debt crisis may deepen, with copper dropping by the most in five months, pacing declines in industrial metals and oil. Rubber and wheat also slid while gold rose to a two-week high.
The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index of 24 raw materials fell 0.8 percent at 11:16 a.m. Seoul time while copper for delivery in three months dropped as much as 2.7 percent, the biggest loss since Oct. 19, to a four-month low of $7,545.75 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The BMC would give additional security to traders from situations such as the flash crash in the US market. The Forward Markets Commission (FMC), the commodity derivatives markets regulator, has levied base minimum capital (BMC) for algo members five times higher than that of normal manual members. Until now, minimum base capital was determined by individual exchanges based on the membership criteria.
Interestingly, FMC has kept both the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) and the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) in the same category with Rs 50 lakh of BMC requirement for algo traders. Against that, the normal manual members should require to have a BMC of Rs 10 lakh…………………………………….Full Article: Source

India, the world’s largest user of gold, will tax commodities futures contracts for the first time after trading surged five fold in five years.
The levy will be 0.01 percent of the value of trade of all non-farm commodities, Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said today while presenting the annual budget for 2013-2014. “There is no distinction between derivative trading in the securities market and derivative trading in the commodities market, only the underlying asset is different,” he said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The securities transaction tax (STT) has resulted in a shift in volumes from domestic to foreign markets. Nifty futures listed on the Singapore-based SGX rose multi-fold, while these fell on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
For the government, reportedly considering a commodities transaction tax (CTT), this might well be a signal. Effective 2005-06, the government had introduced 0.125 per cent STT on delivery and 0.025 per cent on intra-day equities trade………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The EU would do well to emulate the US’s obstinacy and require reporting of payments in all countries with no exceptions. As a former oil company executive, having spent 30 years with Royal Dutch Shell, I am concerned at my former industry’s efforts to undermine a key European transparency law which is close to agreement.
New European legislation, which is being agreed through the EU Accounting and Transparency Directives, will require oil, gas, mining and logging companies to disclose their payments to host governments around the world………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Forward Markets Commission (FMC) has summoned executives of three commodity exchanges to explain the fall in their net worth to levels below the statutory requirement of Rs 100 crore.
Next week, FMC would meet executives from Reliance Group-controlled Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX), Kotak Group-anchored Ace Derivatives & Commodity Exchange (Ace) and Ahmedabad-based National Multi Commodity Exchange (NMCE). It is likely the exchanges would seek time to meet the mandatory net worth criterion………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The world economy suffers the most from the US-led western sanctions against Iran, Tehran’s former Governor to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries Fereidoun Berkeshli said, stressing Iran’s strong economic foundations and its strength for standing against the western sanctions.
“According to a simulation model that we have used (at Vienna Energy Group), with an increase of every $10 in oil price, the global economic growth reduces by 0.28 percent which amounts to approximately $10.2bln per day,” Berkeshli, who also heads the Vienna Energy Group, told FNA on Tuesday………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Wall Street banks and Chicago commodity traders on Thursday will each try to sway the top U.S. derivatives regulator their way at a public hearing on whether new rules unduly favor one of the two rivals.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is drawing up rules for swaps, speculative financial instruments that were unregulated at the time of the 2007-09 financial crisis, and were widely blamed for exacerbating it………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Industry bodies have raised concern against the government’s anticipated move to levy commodity transaction tax (CTT) in Budget 2013-14, scheduled to be announced on February 28.
In a pre-Budget recommendation, the Confederation of Indian Industry ( CII) said exchange-traded commodity transactions continued to be exempted from CTT. It argued the imposition of CTT would not only increase transaction costs, add to the cost of risk management and dissuade genuine hedgers, but also shift commodity derivatives trading to unofficial and illegal ‘dabba’ trading. It added globally, imposition /increase in transaction taxes had led to migration of trade………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The beauty of a pendulum is that once set in motion it can swing predictably forever. The difficulty is getting it to return to the middle. This seems to be the problem with regulation of derivatives.
In the 1990s, derivatives were widely heralded as new instruments that could improve the transference of risk. In 1999, then Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan stated: “By far the most significant event in finance during the past decade has been the extraordinary development and expansion of financial derivatives.” He went on to argue that they “enhance the ability to differentiate risk and allocate it to those investors most able and willing to take it………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The public interest in an orderly approach to the nation’s business seems insufficient to prompt Congress to act in a timely fashion. The national legislature apparently needs some perverse incentive to spur it to action—either a cliff (fiscal or otherwise) to fall off, a ceiling (debt limit) to be crushed under, or a meat ax (automatic spending cuts known as sequester) hanging over pet programs.
This same dynamic has been in play for decades in farm policy. We just didn’t realize it. It took the narrow escape from a doubling of milk prices early this month to remind us that we live in the shadow of a “food bomb” too………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The European Parliament may demand a rethink of new rules designed to make derivatives markets safer in the wake of the financial crisis, potentially leading to months of uncertainty for banks that are big users of these products.
Members of the Parliament are discussing a resolution which, if approved next month, would trigger a formal review of the rules, two sources from the European Parliament said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Energy policies can strengthen economies of the Middle East and North Africa and help the regions make the best use of fossil fuels and renewable resources.
That’s the view of the International Energy Agency (IEA), which is offering its “experience and knowledge” to help the regions tap energy efficiency and renewable energy for economic and political change………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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The government is considering to further raise taxes on gold imports in a bid to tame the runaway current account deficit (CAD). CAD stood at an all-time high of $22.4 billion for the July-September quarter (or 5.4% of the GDP, up from 4.2% in the year-ago period). High CAD could necessitate higher government borrowing, weakening the rupee and stoking inflation and higher interest rates.
“We may be left with no choice but to make it a little more expensive to import gold. The matter is under the government’s consideration,” said finance minister P Chidambaram………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The government will drop a controversial clause from a banking bill pending in parliament that would have allowed banks to trade in commodity futures, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said on Tuesday.
Opposition to the clause threatened to stall the passing of the bill, which is aimed at drawing foreign investment into the banking sector and increasing the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) regulatory oversight in local banks………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission defeated a federal court challenge to a rule requiring mutual funds with commodities investments to register with the agency.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington today rejected arguments by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Investment Company Institute that the rule is unnecessary, and that the commission didn’t properly assess the costs and benefits when it approved the regulation in February………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has released a statement outlining the results of a closed-door meeting between international regulators last week that promises widespread international cooperation in the implementation of global derivatives market reforms.
The message is likely intended to provide comfort to derivatives market participants and the rest of the international regulatory community who have jointly decried the CFTC’s approach to safeguard U.S. markets from abuses in the derivatives market via newfound regulatory powers provided in Dodd-Frank………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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Derivatives regulators from major trading centres promised on Tuesday to minimise cross-border clashes over their new rules to rein in risks in the $640 trillion sector and give industry extra time to adjust.
World leaders agreed in 2009 to increase transparency by requiring swaps contracts to be recorded, cleared and traded on electronic platforms by the end of this month, but not all countries are ready………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Swiss cabinet on Monday rejected a motion that would force mining companies and private commodity trading houses to declare payments made to resource-rich countries.
The decision puts the traditionally neutral country at odds with the United States and the European Union, both of which are pursuing tough new rules for oil, gas and mining companies aimed at reducing corruption………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Britain is considering exempting industrial users from extra costs arising from landmark energy reforms announced on Thursday while consumers face higher bills as the country replaces ageing capacity with low-carbon power.
Britain’s Energy Bill, introduced to parliament on Thursday, aims to ensure the EU’s second-largest economy can keep the lights on and diversify its energy mix in view of legally binding carbon targets………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Monday sued the owner of the prediction market and betting website Intrade, alleging that the company allowed unauthorized trading by U.S. customers.
The civil suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., said Intrade offered trading to U.S. customers on the future prices of commodities such as gold and crude oil despite a 2005 agreement not to offer trades on those and other items………………………………………..Full Article: Source

While Intrade is best known for offering a prediction market for gamblers to bet on the outcome of elections — and, as a byproduct, an ever-changing set of odds for who will win those elections — you don’t see that side of the business mentioned anywhere in the complaint. Instead, again and again, you find reference to Intrade letting U.S. residents gamble on things already under the coverage of financial markets and their regulators: commodity prices, market movements, economic data and so on.
That reflects the CFTC’s original 2005 complaint against Intrade, which focused on its offering of “commodity option contracts” and made specific mention of Intrade bets on gold and oil prices, currency exchange rates and interest rates………………………………………..Full Article: Source

CME Group said it received approval from a federal regulator to launch a data warehouse for certain derivatives, days after the Chicago exchange and clearinghouse operator filed a lawsuit against the same regulator.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved CME Repository Service, a warehouse that will house the details of transactions in credit default swaps, interest rate swaps, commodities swaps and foreign exchange swaps. The service will be launched immediately, according to CME………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A commodities trader was accused in a lawsuit by U.S. regulators of concealing the size of his positions in violation of anti-fraud laws and causing losses of $118 million.
The trader, Matthew Marshall Taylor, in 2007 fabricated trades in a New York-based futures commission merchant’s internal system and obstructed his employer’s discovery of his position, risk and profits and losses, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said in a complaint today in federal court in New York………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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US federal commodity position limits were defeated in court in September, but the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has not thrown in the towel. In a two-pronged attack, the agency is expected to appeal against the ruling and is also thought to be working on a new version of its regulation – but it faces some big obstacles.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is not giving up on its position limits rule, struck down on September 28 – just a fortnight before it was due to take effect – when a US court decided the agency had overstepped the authority given to it by the Dodd-Frank Act………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A majority of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission supports appealing a judge’s ruling against limits on commodity-market speculation, Commissioner Mark Wetjen said on Thursday.
The five-member commission approved position limits last year to cut down on excessive speculation in commodity markets. The rules limit the number of contracts traders can hold in 28-commodities, including oil, coffee and gold………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Iran announced Wednesday that it is restricting the outward flow of Gold Bullion, in response to “challenges in the field of foreign trade”, the country’s Mehr news agency reported.
The move, which will restrict the export of Gold Coins and other bullion, follows a report earlier in the week from the official INRA news agency that Tehran has banned the export of 50 industrial and petrochemical items as well as foodstuffs………………………………………..Full Article: Source