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Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen:
Here are the following closes for gold and silver today:
Gold: $1196.90 down $3.40 (comex closing time)
Silver: $16.18 down 6 cents (comex closing time)
In the access market 5:15 pm
Gold $1201.50
silver $16.31
I would like to point out that the Chinese traders have been absent from gold/silver trading as this is their New Year. They will be back Wednesday.
No doubt that due to their absence our bankers are having an easy time of knocking our metals down. What will end on Wednesday.
The two big stories which will shape the paper world are the Greece crisis and the Ukraine crisis.
The New York Times reports that the citizens of Greece are ready to revolt against the agreement signed. Wait until they see that the actual agreement was not written by the Greek politicians but by the EU staff.
In the UKraine today, the UAH hit 33.05 to the dollar. The 17 billion USA financing by the IMF will not be enough. This country is a basket case.
And now for gold/silver trading today.
Gold/silver trading: see kitco charts on right side of the commentary.
Following is a brief outline on gold and silver comex figures for today:
The gold comex today had a fair delivery day, registering 0 notices served for nil oz. Silver comex registered 0 notices for nil oz .
Three months ago the comex had 303 tonnes of total gold. Today the total inventory rests at 256.08 tonnes for a loss of 46 tonnes over that period.
In silver, the open interest fell by 2399 contracts as Monday’s silver price was down by 2 cents. The total silver OI continues to remain relatively high with today’s reading at 166,123 contracts. The front month of March contracted by only 6,369 contracts with only 3 days before first day notice.
Also the entire silver complex has not collapsed yet as is their usual procedure when we approach the first day notice for an active contract month. We had 0 notices served upon for 15,000 oz.
In gold we had a good rise in OI even though gold was down by $4.10 on Monday. The total comex gold OI rests tonight at 398,568 for a gain of 4506 contracts. Today we had 0 notices served upon for nil oz.
Today, no change in gold inventory at the GLD/Inventory at 771.25 tonnes
In silver, /SLV we had another addition of 1.435 million oz of silver inventory to the SLV/Inventory 325.734 million oz
We have a few important stories to bring to your attention today…
Let’s head immediately to see the major data points for today
.
ting.
Let us now head over to the comex and assess trading over there today.
Here are today’s comex results:
The total gold comex open interest fell rose by 4506 contracts today from 394,062 all the way down to 398,568 as gold was down by $4.10 on yesterday (at the comex close). We are now in the big delivery month of the active February contract and here the OI fell by 119 contracts falling to 362. We had 96 contracts served upon yesterday, thus we lost 23 gold contract or an additional 2300 ounces will not stand in this delivery month . The next contract month of March saw it’s OI fall by 83 contracts down to 758. The next big active delivery month is April and here the OI rise by 2157 contracts up to 265,018. The estimated volume today (which is just comex sales during regular business hours of 8:20 until 1:30 pm est) was awful at 35,718. The confirmed volume yesterday ( which includes the volume during regular business hours + access market sales the previous day) was poor at 124,146 contracts even with mucho help from the HFT boys. Today we had 0 notices filed for nil oz.
And now for the wild silver comex results. Silver OI fell by 2399 contracts from 168,522 down to 166,123 as silver was down by 2 cents with yesterday’s trading. The bankers are still not able to shake many silver leaves from the silver tree. We are still awaiting the usual collapse in OI as we get closer to first day notice. We are now in the non active contract month of February and here the OI fell from 23 down to 12 for a loss of 11 contracts. We had 3 notices filed on yesterday so we lost 8 contracts or an additional 40,000 ounces will not stand in this February contract month . The next big active contract month is March and here the OI fell by only 6.369 contracts down to 33,856. First day notice for the gold and silver February contract months is on Friday, Feb 27.2015 or 3 trading days away. The March OI is still extremely high. The estimated volume today was poor at 20,437 contracts (just comex sales during regular business hours. The confirmed volume on Friday was excellent (regular plus access market) at 67,856 contracts. We had 0 notices filed for nil oz today.
February initial standings
Feb 24.2015
Gold
Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory in oz
nil oz
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory in oz
128.60 oz 4 kilobars(Manfra,Brinks)
Deposits to the Dealer Inventory in oz
nil
Deposits to the Customer Inventory, in oz
643.00 oz 20 kilobars (Manfra)
No of oz served (contracts) today
0 contracts (nil oz)
No of oz to be served (notices)
385 contracts (38,500 oz)
Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month
813 contracts(81,300 oz)
Total accumulative withdrawals of gold from the Dealers inventory this month
Total accumulative withdrawal of gold from the Customer inventory this month
228,435.6 oz
Today, we had 0 dealer transactions
we had 0 dealer withdrawals:
total dealer withdrawal: nil oz
we had 0 dealer deposits:
we had 2 customer withdrawals
i) Out of Manfra: 96.45 oz 3 kilobars
ii) Out of Brinks: 32.15 oz 1 kilobars
total customer withdrawal: 128.60 oz
we had 1 customer deposit:
i) Into Manfra; 643.000 oz (20 kilobars)
total customer deposits; 643.000 oz
We had 0 adjustments
Today, 0 notices was issued from JPMorgan dealer account and 0 notices were issued from their client or customer account. The total of all issuance by all participants equates to 0 contract of which 0 notices were stopped (received) by JPMorgan dealer and 0 notices were stopped (received) by JPMorgan customer account.
To calculate the total number of gold ounces standing for the December contract month, we take the total number of notices filed for the month (813) x 100 oz or 81,300 oz , to which we add the difference between the OI for the front month of February (362 contracts) minus the number of notices served today x 100 oz (0 contracts) x 100 oz = 117,500 oz, the amount of gold oz standing for the February contract month.( 3.654 tonnes)
Thus the initial standings:
813 (notices filed for the month x( 100 oz) or 81,300 oz + { 362 (OI for the front month of Feb)- 0 (number of notices served upon today} x 100 oz per contract} = 117,500 oz total number of ounces standing for the February contract month. (3.654 tonnes)
we lost 2300 oz of gold standing in this February contract month.
Total dealer inventory: 810,047.429 oz or 25.195 tonnes
Total gold inventory (dealer and customer) = 8.233 million oz. (256.08) tonnes)
Several weeks ago we had total gold inventory of 303 tonnes, so during this short time period 46 tonnes have been net transferred out. However I believe that the gold that enters the gold comex is not real. I cannot see continual additions of strictly kilobars.
end
And now for silver
February silver: initial standings
feb 24 2015:
Silver
Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory
nil oz
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory
20,180.85 oz (HSBC,)
Deposits to the Dealer Inventory
nil
Deposits to the Customer Inventory
886,249.75 (Brinks, Scotia) oz
No of oz served (contracts)
0 contracts (nil oz)
No of oz to be served (notices)
20 contracts (100,000 oz)
Total monthly oz silver served (contracts)
423 contracts (2,115,000 oz)
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Dealers inventory this month
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Customer inventory this month
5,933,933.1 oz
Today, we had 0 deposit into the dealer account:
total dealer deposit: nil oz
we had 0 dealer withdrawal:
total dealer withdrawal: nil oz
We had 2 customer deposits:
i) Into Brinks: 300,761.99oz
ii) Into Scotia: 585,487.76
total customer deposit: 886,249.75 oz
We had 1 customer withdrawals:
i) Out of HSBC: 20,180.85 oz
total customer withdrawal: 349,820.29 oz
we had 0 adjustments
Total dealer inventory: 68.059 million oz
Total of all silver inventory (dealer and customer) 176.391 million oz
.
The total number of notices filed today is represented by 0 contracts for nil oz. To calculate the number of silver ounces that will stand for delivery in February, we take the total number of notices filed for the month (423) x 5,000 oz = 2,115,000 oz to which we add the difference between the OI for the front month of February (12)- the number of notices served upon today (0) x 5,000 oz per contract = 2,175,000 oz, the number of silver oz standing for the February contract month
Initial standings for silver for the February contract month:
423 contracts x 5000 oz= 2,115,000 oz + (12) OI for the front month – (0) number of notices served upon x 5000 oz per contract = 2,175,000 oz, the number of silver ounces standing.
we gained 3 contracts or an additional 15,000 silver ounces will stand in this February contract month.
for those wishing to see the rest of data today see:
http://www.harveyorgan.wordpress.com or http://www.harveyorganblog.com
end
The two ETF’s that I follow are the GLD and SLV. You must be very careful in trading these vehicles as these funds do not have any beneficial gold or silver behind them. They probably have only paper claims and when the dust settles, on a collapse, there will be countless class action lawsuits trying to recover your lost investment.
There is now evidence that the GLD and SLV are paper settling on the comex.
***I do not think that the GLD will head to zero as we still have some GLD shareholders who think that gold is the right vehicle to be in even though they do not understand the difference between paper gold and physical gold. I can visualize demand coming to the buyers side:
i) demand from paper gold shareholders
ii) demand from the bankers who then redeem for gold to send this gold onto China
vs no sellers of GLD paper.
And now the Gold inventory at the GLD:
Feb 24.2015: no change in gold inventory at the GLD/Inventory at 771.25 tonnes
Feb 23.2015: no change in gold inventory at the GLD/Inventory at 771.25 tonnes
Feb 20/we had another good addition of 1.79 tonnes of gold into the GLD. Inventory 771.25 tonnes
Feb 19/ a huge addition of 1.5 tonnes of gold into the GLD/Inventory 769.46
Feb 18/ a small withdrawal of .3 tonnes/no doubt to pay for fees/Inventory 767.96 tonnes
Feb 17/no changes in gold inventory at the GLD/Inventory 768.26 tonnes
feb 13. we another another withdrawal f 3.25 tonnes of gold from the GLD/Inventory 768.26 tonnes
Feb 12: we had a withdrawal of 1.8 tonnes of gold from the GLD/Inventory 771.51 tonnes
Feb 11.no change in gold inventory at the GLD/Inventory 773.31 tonnes
Feb 10 no change in gold inventory at the GLD/inventory 773.31 tonnes
Feb 9 no change in gold inventory at the GLD/Inventory 773.31 tonnes
feb 6/ no change in gold inventory tonight/inventory 773.31 tonnes
feb 5. we had another addition of 5.38 tonnes of gold to the GLD/Inventory tonight at 773.31 tonnes
Feb 4/2015; we had another addition of 2.99 tonnes added to the GLD inventory/Inventory tonight 767.93
Feb 24/2015 / no change in gold inventory at the GLD/
inventory: 771.25 tonnes.
The registered vaults at the GLD will eventually become a crime scene as real physical gold departs for eastern shores leaving behind paper obligations to the remaining shareholders. There is no doubt in my mind that GLD has nowhere near the gold that say they have and this will eventually lead to the default at the LBMA and then onto the comex in a heartbeat (same banks).
GLD : 771.25 tonnes.
end
And now for silver (SLV):
Feb 24.we had an addition of 1.435 million oz of silver to the SLV/SLV inventory at 725.734 million oz
Feb 23 no change in silver inventory/324.299 million oz
Feb 20 no change in silver inventory/324.299 million oz
Fen 19/ we had a huge addition of 4.082 million oz of silver into the SLV/Inventory 324.299 milllion oz
Feb 18.2015/ no change in silver inventory at the SLV/Inventory at 320.327 million oz
Feb 17 no changes in silver inventory at the SLV/Inventory at 320.327 million oz
Feb 13 no change in silver inventory at the SLV/inventory at 320.327 million oz.
Feb 12 no change in silver inventory at the SLV/inventory at 320.327 million oz
Feb 11 no change in silver inventory at the SLV/inventory at 320.327 million oz
Feb 10 no change in silver inventory at the SLV/inventory at 320.327 million oz
Feb 9 no change in silver inventory/SLV inventory at 320.327 million oz
Feb 6 no change in silver inventory/SLV’s silver inventory at 320.327 million oz.
Feb 5.we had no change in silver inventory/320.327 million oz/
Feb 4/we had a small withdrawal of 136,000 oz of silver from the SLV vaults/Inventory/320.327 million oz
feb 3.2015: we had a good addition of 1.149 million oz of silver inventory/inventory 320.463 million oz
feb 24/2015 an addition of 1.435 milion oz of silver inventory at the SLV
SLV inventory registers: 325.735 million oz
end
And now for our premiums to NAV for the funds I follow:
Note: Sprott silver fund now for the first time into the negative to NAV
Sprott and Central Fund of Canada.
(both of these funds have 100% physical metal behind them and unencumbered and I can vouch for that)
1. Central Fund of Canada: traded at Negative 6.8% percent to NAV in usa funds and Negative 7.8% to NAV for Cdn funds!!!!!!!
Percentage of fund in gold 61.4%
Percentage of fund in silver:38.2%
cash .4%
( feb24/2015)
Sprott gold fund finally rising in NAV
2. Sprott silver fund (PSLV): Premium to NAV falls to + 3.27%!!!!! NAV (Feb 24/2015)
3. Sprott gold fund (PHYS): premium to NAV rises to +.33% to NAV(feb 24 /2015)
Note: Sprott silver trust back into positive territory at +3.27%.
Sprott physical gold trust is back into positive territory at +.33%
Central fund of Canada’s is still in jail.
end
And now for your most important physical stories on gold and silver today:
Early gold trading from Europe early Tuesday morning:
(courtesy Mark O’Byrne)
Gold Holdings of Eurozone Rise to 10,792 Tonnes – ECB’s “Reserve of Safety” Accumulated
By Mark O’Byrne February 24, 2015 No Comments
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The Euro zone raised its gold holdings by 7.437 tonnes to 10,791.885 tonnes in January, International Monetary Fund data released overnight showed.
The rise in gold holdings was small in tonnage terms and in percentage terms – especially when viewed in the light of the recently launched ECB’s EUR 1 trillion QE monetary experiment.
Nevertheless, the rise in Euro-area gold holdings shows how the ECB continue to view gold as an important monetary asset. Mario Draghi said of gold in October 2013 that gold is a “reserve of safety” that “gives you a value-protection against fluctuations against the dollar.”
Draghi told an open forum at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, why central banks want gold and what value it offers. He said that there were “several reasons” to own gold including “risk diversification”.
The increase in reserves came at a time, January, of rising gold prices amidst the reemergence of the Greek debt crisis.
It may signal that the ECB and Eurozone are set to embark on a gold accumulation programme. More likely, it is simply a way to bolster confidence in the euro due to increasing doubts about the viability of the single currency.
Russia sold a very small amount of gold in January for the first time since March. Russia lowered its reserves to 1,207.7 tons from 1,208.2 tons, ending nine months of consecutive purchases, the IMF data showed.
Russia, the world’s fifth-biggest gold holder, had been adding to its holdings for many years in order to bolster the rouble.
Before last month, Russia had bought at least 18 tons a month since September and more than tripled its holdings since 2005.
Turkey’s gold reserves fell marginally last month along with Mexico and Belarus, the data showed.
Kazakhstan increased gold reserves for the 28th straight month, while Ukraine added to holdings for the first time since August, the data showed. Kazakhstan boosted holdings to about 193.5 metric tons from 191.8 tons a month earlier as Ukraine’s rose to 23.9 tons from 23.6 metric tons.
Kazakhstan’s hoard rose 33 percent in the past year alone and more than doubled in the past three years.
Ukraine’s assets dropped in November to the lowest level since 2005 as its foreign currency reserves contracted and the hryvnia slumped amid the conflict and collapsing economy. There were also concerns that the newly installed government had acquired the gold and moved it offshore, out of Ukraine.
Central banks are some of the largest buyers of gold today – see table above. Central banks have been adding to their gold reserves for the past five years, a reversal from two decades of selling since the late 1980s. They were net buyers in 2014 and are set to be net buyers again 2015.
Governments bought 477.2 tons of gold bullion in 2014, the second-biggest increase in 50 years, and purchases will be at least 400 tons this year, the World Gold Council has estimated.
The smart money will continue to follow the lead of central banks internationally and gradually accumulate gold and dollar, euro or pound cost averaging into an allocated and segregated physical gold position.
Daily and Weekly Updates Here
MARKET UPDATE
Today’s AM fix was USD 1,195.50, EUR 1,057.97 and GBP 774.59 per ounce.
Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,193.50, EUR 1,055.17 and GBP 777.12 per ounce.
Gold rose 0.09% percent or $1.10 and closed at $1,202.10 an ounce on yesterday, while silver climbed 0.56% percent or $0.09 closing at $16.32 an ounce.
Spot gold was down 0.4 percent at $1,196.80 an ounce in late morning in London, after prices were flat in Singapore. Silver was down 0.3 percent at $16.24 an ounce, platinum slipped by 0.2 percent to $1,158.55 and palladium fell 0.2 percent to $783.15.
Gold slipped below $1,200 an ounce today but recovered from its 7 week low hit yesterday as optimism is abound that the Greek bail-out deal will be finalized today.
The close above $1,200/oz yesterday was encouraging from a technical perspective.
Some speculated that Federal Reserve Chairperson Janet Yellen’s pending congressional testimony added some pressure on the yellow metal and strengthened the U.S. dollar.
Yellen will address the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee at 10 a.m. on Tuesday (EST) and the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday.
Market participants are looking for any further guidance on the timing of when the U.S. Fed may raise interest rates.
Yellen’s European counterpart ECB chief Mario Draghi is also set to make a speech today at 3 p.m. CET unveiling the new €20 banknote in Frankfurt.
The world’s second largest consumer of gold, China, is still celebrating its Lunar New Year holiday today and returns tomorrow which should be gold supportive.
Gold had its biggest monthly advance in three years in January prior to giving up those gains in recent weeks.
Gold climbed 8.4 percent in January in London as policy makers in Europe and Asia signaled more stimulus to battle slowing economic growth and investors speculated that Greece may be forced to quit the euro.
Bullion traded at $1,195.80 an ounce on today. With gold being some 37 percent below the nominal record high set in 2011, contrarian investors continue to accumulate on weakness.
end
Now we have accurate demand for gold from Chinese citizens
(courtesy Koos Jansen)
SGE Chairman: India Will Become SGE’s Largest Partner
The latest Indian Bullion Bulletin has just been released wherein the chairman of the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) Xu Luode presents the SGE’s international ambitions – read below.
The Chinese government regards the gold market as an indispensable component of China’s financial market and attaches great importance to its growth and development.
The Shanghai International Gold Exchange
Xu provides an excellent all round update of the SGE, though he’s somewhat exaggerating the performances of the SGE International Board (SGEI) up until now IMVHO. I don’t blame him though, the SGEI has great potential!
One way to enhance SGEI trading would be to allow individual foreign investors to have easy access to the international exchange and its wide range of products, which is currently limited to SGEI members (banks, refineries, etc). Xu notes this will change soon.
I’ve gotten numerous questions by email from investors worldwide that would like to trade on the SGEI, but can’t get through. At this stage it’s simply not possible, but my contacts at ICBC will timely notify me when everybody can trade at the SGEI. I’ll keep you posted.
SGE Withdrawals
To keep track more precisely of what’s going on in the Chinese domestic market Xu drops some fit numbers that help analyze what has happened in between the Shanghai Free Trade Zone (FTZ) and China mainland in 2014. Xu notes:
As of November 2014, international members have traded more than 100 metric tons of gold in aggregate with a total turnover of around RMB 25 billion; imported gold tipped in at around 12 metric tons, and a total of 15 metric tons of gold have been deposited into the International Board Certified Vault.
As the SGE does not publish withdrawal data from the International Board (in the FTZ) and the Main Board (in the mainland) separate, domestic withdrawal data – used as a proxy for Chinese wholesale demand – lost some of its precision since the inception of the SGEI (read this post for a comprehensive explanation of the relationship between SGEI trading volume and withdrawals).
However, with the numbers disclosed by Xu we can make a far better estimate of Chinese wholesale demand in 2014. Previously we knew total withdrawals for 2014 accounted for 2,102 tonnes, but these could have been influenced by SGEI withdrawals of which some could have been imported into the mainland or exported abroad. We didn’t know by how much, all we knew was SGEI trading volume that set the limits.
Now we know 15 tonnes had been deposited in the FTZ, of which 12 tonnes was withdrawn and imported into the mainland (by one of the 15 licensed banks). Meaning, Chinese wholesale demand (SGE withdrawals) could not have ben lower than 2,099 tonnes.
2,102 – (15 – 12) = 2,099
It’s possible all the gold deposited in the FTZ (15 tonnes) was withdrawn, but for sure 12 tonnes was imported into the mainland. So, theoretically only 3 tonnes could have distorted domestic withdrawals.
For a detailed explanation on the working of the Shanghai International Gold Exchange click here.
Xu Luode from the Bullion Bulletin:
Embrace Global Markets, Strengthen International Cooperation, Share China Opportunities, Advocate Mutual Benefits
Shanghai Gold Exchange, A Market-based and Global Exchange Center
Xu Luode, Chairman, Shanghai Gold Exchange
The Shanghai Gold Exchange (“Exchange” or “SGE”) was officially established on October 30, 2002 by the People’s Bank of China (“PBC”) under the approval of the State Council. In just little over a decade, the SGE has firmly placed itself as the most important domestic trading platform and central hub for spot and investment products in gold, silver and platinum. SGE’s success also extends to the international stage: it has been ranked as the world’s largest exchange for physical gold bullions for seven years in a row, and its trading volume in gold and silver reached 11.6 and 430.5 thousand metric tons respectively in 2013, which puts it as the fourth largest exchange in the world for gold and third largest in silver.
I. Background and Significance of the Launch of the International Board
The official launch of SGE’s International Board on September 18, 2014 has unveiled a new chapter in the reform and development of China’s gold market, and marked a solid step in the opening up of the China’s gold market to global investors. Its strategic launch underscores both SGE’s own development needs and its desire for greater integration with international markets. The background and significance of the International Board are:
1. China has an enormous market base for gold products and harbors great potential.
In recent years, we have witnessed the trend of “oriental gold” playing an increasingly important role in the global market attributable to the rapid development of the China’s gold market: in 2013 alone, the gold produced and imported by China exceeded 50 percent of the world’s gold production and 60 percent of the world’s gold consumption, respectively. As the world’s biggest gold producer, consumer, and importer, China is gradually integrating itself into the global gold market. Meanwhile, China is still a relatively young market as compared to its more established siblings in the world; similarly, SGE has been operating for less than 12 years and is still in its early development stage. But the future is bright: as the urbanization spreads to far corners of China and national income level surges, the development and growth potential of the China’s gold market has never been stronger.
2. Chinese government has been a major proponent for advancing China’s gold market and ushering in its era of internationalization.
Chinese government regards the gold market as an indispensable component of China’s financial market and attaches great importance to its growth and development. PBC has laid a solid foundation for transforming it from a domestic commodity market based on spot products to an international investment market based on derivatives. On another front, the Chinese government established the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone (“Shanghai FTZ”) in September 2013, signaling its determination to introduce more innovations and reforms to the domestic financial system. As national efforts to internationalize RMB reach their crescendo, China’s domestic gold market is facing an auspicious window and timing for pursuing its internationalization and greater openness.
The significance of the launch of the International Board is manifest in the following three aspects:
(1) The International Board provides a vital link between the domestic and international gold markets.
By inviting foreign investors to trade in China’s domestic market, the International Board has greatly expanded the size of the market and increased market liquidity. Foreign investors can take advantage of the diverse range of trading, pricing, and hedging instruments as well as the arbitrage opportunities of “RMB-denominated gold price, RMB interest rates, and RMB exchange rates” provides, and share in the benefits and wealth brought about by China’s market reforms and development.
(2) The International Board provides a new investment channel for offshore RMB.
The International Board offers an attractive investment channel for foreigners holding offshore RMB and imbues offshore RMB with greater investment value and liquidity than ever before. At the same time, the International Board has spurred innovations in FX and interest rate products, improved the visibility and standing of RMB as an international money of account and settlement currency, and accelerated RMB’s march to becoming an international currency.
(3) The International Board lends greater weight to the importance of Asian gold market on the international stage.
China, India, Dubai and Singapore all enjoy vibrant trading scenes andcomparative advantages; however, in the eyes of many investors, the influence wielded by the Asian markets is still very limited as a whole. Using the International Board as a launch pad, China’s gold market will embrace greater openness and foster stronger ties with its neighbors and, together, elevate the trading and pricing influence of Asia in the world’s gold market.
II. Key Features of the International Board
The launch of the International Board has attracted major spotlights from international markets due to its five prominent features:
1. Internationalization of market participants.
SGE’s first 40 highprofile international members include major global commercial banks, investment banks, gold refiners, and investment firms such as HSBC, Standard Chartered, Scotia Mocatta, Goldman Sachs, ANZ, Metalor, Heraeus and PAMP. International members are permitted to trade in all products listed on the Exchange through proprietary accounts and on behalf of international investors.
2. Internationalization of funds.
Offshore RMB and offshore convertible currencies can be used in the trading of RMB-quoted precious metals products offered by the Exchange via the PBC’s Free Trade Accounting Unit.
3. Internationalization of pricing.
All products listed on the Exchange are denominated in RMB. As more market participants gather to trade on the Exchange, and onshore investors and domestic funds become more intertwined with offshore investors and offshore funds, the sphere of influence of trading prices on the Exchange will gradually expand from nearby regions to the whole world and, at the same time, RMB-denominated gold benchmark price will emerge as another financial index of global significance.
4. Internationalization of products.
SGE integrates the Main Board with the International Board so that domestic and foreign investors can trade in the same arena. After being admitted to the Exchange, international investors are allowed to trade in a wide array of products, including the three spot gold products listed on the International Board as well as spot and deferred products on the Main Board. In addition, to better meet the needs of the market, the Exchange has further optimized the structure of products and recently introduced (T+N) deferred products as a new choice for the investors. SGE has also embedded bullion leasing service in its design of the International Board. SGE will concentrate on the launch of this service as its next step toward offering the full range of services that international investors demand.
5. Internationalization of delivery, storage and transportation services.
SGE provides delivery, storage, logistics and other supporting services for the importation and transit of gold through its fully modernized vault in the Shanghai FTZ that is capable of holding thousands of metric tons of gold.International investors may choose to conduct the delivery of physical gold at this vault at their own discretion. The physical gold so delivered may be imported into China by any qualified entity commissioned by the Exchange, or transited without restriction to any other country in the world.
III. Market Performance and Development Outlook of the International Board
As of November 2014, international members have traded more than 100 metric tons of gold in aggregate with a total turnover of around RMB 25 billion; imported gold tipped in at around 12 metric tons, and a total of 15 metric tons of gold have been deposited into the International Board Certified Vault. The market functions of the International Board are beginning to take root and contribute positively to the national economy. As is widely expected, the International Board has shown a promising start, but SGE’s internationalization initiative has just taken its first step, more efforts and time will be needed to realize the full market functions and economic impacts of the International Board.
1. Strengthen international cooperation and seek mutual benefits.
SGE and CME have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with regards to future cooperation efforts. As a perennial major consumer of gold and a close neighbor of China, India will undoubtedly become one of SGE’s most important partners in the coming years. SGE looks forward to forming close partnerships with the Indian market.
2. Attract more foreign entities and investors to participate.
At present, a large number of international organizations have expressed their strong desire to join in the SGE and the Exchange itself has started the admission process for a second group of international members. Looking ahead, SGE will continue to admit competitive foreign entities as its members in accordance with market needs, and will allow international members to conduct brokerage services when the time is ripe and accelerate the preparatory steps for the eventual admittance of foreign individual investors.
3. Further tap into market potentials and improve investor service.
In the future, the SGE will continue to optimize and enrich its range of bullion products, gradually open its silver, platinum, palladium and other precious metals products as well as price asking products and derivatives such as forwards and options to international investors. Furthermore, the SGE will focus on enhancing its transit and leasing businesses, gradually roll out foreign currency-based collateral services and FX swaps, accept offshore funds from more varied sources for International Board transactions, further improve the financial services offered to international members and customers in regards to account opening and cross-border funds transfers, provide customized and streamlined financial solutions to international members, and, by adopting a top-down design, offer exceptional and expedient services to international investors.
………………………………………………
Mr. Xu Luode, Bachelor of Economics and senior accountant, is the Chairman of Shanghai Gold Exchange. He is also the Vice Chairman of China Gold Association, the Vice Chairman of China Payment and Settlement Association, the Executive Member of China Finance Society, and the Executive Member of China Numismatic Society.
Koos Jansen
E-mail Koos Jansen on: koos.jansen@bullionstar.com
end
This is interesting: (another slap on the wrist?)
(courtesy Wall Street Journal/ GATA)
Big banks face scrutiny over pricing of metals
Submitted by cpowell on Tue, 2015-02-24 04:07. Section: Daily Dispatches
By Jean Eaglesham and Christopher M. Matthews
The Wall Street Journal
Monday, February 23, 2015
U.S. officials are investigating at least 10 major banks for possible rigging of precious-metals markets, even though European regulators dropped a similar probe after finding no evidence of wrongdoing, according to people close to the inquiries.
Prosecutors in the Justice Department’s antitrust division are scrutinizing the price-setting process for gold, silver, platinum, and palladium in London, while the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has opened a civil investigation, these people said. The agencies have made initial requests for information, including a subpoena from the CFTC to HSBC Holdings PLC related to precious-metals trading, the bank said in its annual report Monday.
HSBC also said the Justice Department sought documents related to the antitrust investigation in November. The two probes “are at an early stage,” the bank added, saying it is cooperating with U.S. regulators.
Also under scrutiny are Bank of Nova Scotia, Barclays PLC, Credit Suisse Group AG, Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Societe Generale SA, Standard Bank Group Ltd., and UBS AG, according to one of the people close to the investigation. …
… For the remainder of the report:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/big-banks-face-scrutiny-over-pricing-of-meta.
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And now zero hedge discusses the above story:
Ten Banks, Including JPM, Goldman, Deutsche, Barclays, SocGen And UBS, Probed For Gold Rigging
No matter how many times the big banks are caught red-handed manipulating precious metals, some failed former Deutsche Bank prop-trader (you know who you are) will take a vociferous stand based on ad hominemattacks and zero facts that no, what you see in front of you is not precious metal rigging at all but a one-off event that has nothing to do with a criminal banking syndicate hell bent on taking advantage of anyone who is naive and dumb enough to still believe in fair and efficient markets.
The last time this happened was in November when we learned that “UBS Settles Over Gold Rigging, Many More Banks To Follow“, and sure enough many more banks did follow, because in Europe, where the stench of gold market manipulation stretches far beyond merely commercial banks, and rises through the central banks, namely the BOE and ECB, culminating with the Head of Foreign Exchange & Gold at the BIS itself, all such allegations have to be promptly settled or else the discovery that the manipulation cartel in Europe involves absolutely everybody will shock and stun the world, which heretofore was led to believe that such things as gold market (not to be confused with Libor or FX) manipulation only exist in the paranoid delusions of a few tinfoil fringe-blogging lunatics.
However, as usually happens, someone always fails to read the memo that when it comes to gold-market manipulation one must i) find nothing at all incriminating if one is a paid spokesman for the entities doing the manipulation such as former CFTC-sellout Bart Chilton or ii) if one can’t cover it, then one must settle immediately or else the chain of revelations will implication everyone.
This time, that someone is the US Department of Justice, which as the WSJ just reported, is investigating at least 10 major banks for possible rigging of precious-metals markets. The DOJ is shockingly doing so “even though European regulators dropped a similar probe after finding no evidence of wrongdoing, according to people close to the inquiries.” Of course, the reason why said probe was dropped in Europe is because it would have implicated virtually the entire trading desk at the biggest and most important European bank: Deustche Bank, as well as the biggest bank in Switzerland, UBS and UK’s own Barclays, reveal a manipulation cartel rivaling even that of Libor. And once traders at the commercial banks turned sides and squealed for the prosection, well then it would be the central banks’ turn next. Which is why it was imperative to bring this investigation to a quiet end.
But not in the US.
According to the WSJ, “prosecutors in the Justice Department’s antitrust division are scrutinizing the price-setting process for gold, silver, platinum and palladium in London, while the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has opened a civil investigation, these people said. The agencies have made initial requests for information, including a subpoena from the CFTC to HSBC Holdings PLC related to precious-metals trading, the bank said in its annual report Monday.
HSBC also said the Justice Department sought documents related to the antitrust investigation in November. The two probes “are at an early stage,” the bank added, saying it is cooperating with U.S. regulators.
Who is involved in this latest gold-rigging scandal? Why everyone! … which makes it immediately obvious why the European regulator had to promptly cover up the whole affair. Under scrutiny are Bank of Nova Scotia , Barclays PLC, Credit Suisse Group AG , Deutsche Bank AG , Goldman Sachs Group Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Société Générale SA, Standard Bank Group Ltd. and UBS AG , according to one of the people close to the investigation.
Robert Hockett, a law professor at Cornell University, said it is “not particularly surprising” that the Justice Department is plowing ahead despite the decision by European regulators. Recent scrutiny of big banks’ operations in the physical commodities markets and criticism of the Justice Department’s financial-crisis track record make it “quite understandable” that the agency would investigate allegations of precious metals price-rigging.
Last year, the FCA fined Barclays £26 million ($40.2 million) for lax controls after one of its traders allegedly manipulated the gold fix at the expense of a client.
Swiss regulator Finma settled last year allegations of foreign-currency manipulation with UBS. The regulator said it found “serious misconduct” among precious-metals traders at UBS, including “front running,” or trading ahead of, the silver-fix orders of one client. A spokeswoman for UBS, which said at the time that it “instituted significant cultural and compliance changes,”declined further comment.
You mean to say that the banks that were for decades rigging Libor… and FX… and bonds… and stocks… oh, and gold, were let go with a slap on the wrist and a promise to “change their ways” and not to do it again? Yup, that’s exactly right.
So what happens next? Well, we finally will find just how much of a banker-controlled muppet the so-called US attorney general truly is. Recall that a week ago hegave his subordinates 90 days to being cases against individuals for their role in the financial crisis.
Well here is the perfect opportunity. Should Holder let this latest mass criminal ring go without any incarecration, one can officially stick a fork in the US justice system, which is meant for everyone, but the rule-flouting bankers who can clearly get away with absolutely anything.
As for the rigging in the gold market, rigging which begins with the lowliest prop-traders at Deutsche Bank and involves every single central bank and High Frequency trading outfit and is now a proven fact, we have explained over the years and thousands of times just how to end it all, so instead of wasting readers’ time on this topic yet again, here are just two very simple solutions how to fix this one particular market:
So simple, even the most corrupt US Attorney General caveman can do it.
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(courtesy John Embry/Eric King/Kingworldnews?
Greece can’t pay but EU can’t let Greece go, Embry tells KWN
Submitted by cpowell on Tue, 2015-02-24 20:19. Section: Daily Dispatches
3:16p ET Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
Greece can’t pay its European Union creditors but the EU can’t let Greece go because default would wreck the EU banking system, Sprott Asset Management’s John Embry tells King World News today, adding that nothing about the Greek situation has been solved. An excerpt from Embry’s interview is posted at the KWN blog here:
http://kingworldnews.com/50-year-veteran-greek-deal-bs-people-greece-pis…
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
Sprott Money interviews Hugo Salinas Price
(courtesy Sprott Money/GATA/Hugo Salinas Price)
Sprott Money News interviews Hugo Salinas Price on silver’s return as money
Submitted by cpowell on Tue, 2015-02-24 04:23. Section: Daily Dispatches
11:25p ET Monday, February 23, 2015
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
In an interview with Geoff Rutherford of Sprott Money News, Hugo Salinas Price, president of the Mexican Civic Association for Silver, describes his plan for introducing an undenominated silver coin for savings and emergency money in Mexico. He adds that countries buying gold, as Russia and China are, are preparing for war, if one that is being forced on them by Western meddling, and don’t want to have to rely on the currency of a potential enemy. The interview with Salinas Price is posted as both audio and text at the Sprott Money Internet site here:
http://www.sprottmoney.com/news/ask-the-expert-hugo-salinas-price-februa…
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
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Bank of England denies secret futures trading on CME Group exchanges in U.S.
Submitted by cpowell on Tue, 2015-02-24 15:59. Section: Daily Dispatches
11a ET Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney today told the Treasury Committee of the House of Commons that the bank is not participating in CME Group’s program by which central banks receive discounts for their secret trading in all major U.S. futures markets.
The CME Group’s “central bank incentive program” is described here:
http://www.gata.org/node/14385
http://www.gata.org/node/14411
http://www.gata.org/node/14818
Carney’s denial came in response to a question from committee member Steve Baker, Conservative for Wycombe in England.
The exchange can be viewed at the 11:38:50 mark of the video of the hearing at Parliament’s Internet site here:
http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=17350
While no mainstream financial news organizations will question central banks about their secret trading in the markets, at least the issue seems to have come to the attention of some elected officials in Britain.
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
Mother Nature always prevails with “re sets”!
This past week my sister flew in to see us for a few days. I had not seen her in a couple of years so it was great to catch up and spend some face time. She had not been to see us since we returned from Costa Rica and since the wildfire took our home in 2011. We drove through the burn zone to show her how large it was and how extensive. It’s been nearly a year since I had driven through simply because I don’t really like the memory and how depressing it is to see. This past Friday was different, there are literally MILLIONS of new pine saplings sprouting up everywhere! It took three years but Mother Nature has not failed us once again.
It is in this theme I’d like to write today. Without going into the mechanics and logic of “why” or really even how the current Ponzi schemes will fail, I will assume that you understand the current “dollar system” is untenable, unfair, unstable and will fail in very grand fashion. If you do not believe this, you might stop reading here. If you don’t believe this and do continue to read, the following math will be quite scary but is correct in both numbers and logic.
After “failure”, after a wildfire, forests regrow saplings and new vegetation. Is it a miracle? Yes, absolutely yes! Is it something we should come to expect? Again, yes. The very same holds true for economies and financial systems. After every popped bubble, after every deflationary default wave, hyperinflation and currency collapse, and even after every war …as long as humans still exist there will always be a new economy and financial system that “rises from the ashes”. ALWAYS!
Without trying to bore you, forests will not regrow if there is no rain nor sunshine. Financial regrowth cannot flourish unless there is “money”, the equivalent of rain. But we already have money now, plenty of it if not too much of it. Globally, the world is glutted with central bank created “money”. I would submit to you, there is far too much of it …and it is “poisonous”. The fire hose spigots of money were opened in 2008, more and more of it was produced …but, it was “bad” money. It is this revelation the world is now struggling with and why the BRICS and rest of the world are looking to move away from the dollar and towards gold, “clean” or even “good” money. The important thing here is that gold is money you can trust no matter what language you speak or read, no matter what form of economy or government you have or what religion you practice. Gold is “universal money” and this is the beauty of it!
Doing just a little bit of math compared to today’s gold price of $1,200, we can see at what price level “gold” can (and will eventually) extinguish debt. Let’s look at Greece for example. They have just over $4 billion worth of gold in relation to $350 billion worth of debt. Gold would need to be priced at nearly $100,000 for their debt to be covered by their gold holdings. We could do the same exercise for the U.S., we supposedly have over 8,000 tons (262 million ounces), in order to cover $18 trillion worth of debt, gold would need to be priced at nearly $68,000 per ounce. If we did the math on total obligations we arrive at an unthinkable number. Covering all debt and derivatives outstanding brings us to a number with “lots of zeroes”, I won’t go there because too many brains will shut down from disbelief.
I know what you might be thinking, “but gold isn’t money and who says the debt has to be ‘co