Tokyo Commodity Exchange, Inc.
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| Tokyo Commodity Exchange, Inc. | |
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| Founded | 1984 |
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| Headquarters | Tokyo |
| Key People | Tadashi Ezaki, President & CEO |
| Products | Futures in precious metals, oils, rubber, indexes and agriculture, and options on gold futures |
| Corporate Website | http://www.tocom.or.jp |
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange, Inc. (TOCOM) is Japan's largest derivatives platform, offering futures contracts on precious metals, oil-related energy products, rubber and index (Nikkei-TOCOM Commodity Index) as well as options on gold futures.
On Dec. 1, 2008, TOCOM demutualized and transformed itself from a membership organization into a corporation and changed its name to Tokyo Commodity Exchange, Inc. It was one of the first commodity futures exchanges in Japan to undergo such a transformation.[1]
TOCOM acquired the Tokyo Grain Exchange in 2013 and on Feb. 12 launched the Agricultural Product & Sugar Market, offering products previously traded at the Grain Exchange. The exchange has also changed its Japanese corporate name to “Tokyo Shohin Torihikijo”, to reflect the addition of agricultural products to its industrial commodities.[2]
TOCOM was ranked as the world's 34th-largest derivatives exchange by volume in 2010, according to the annual volume survey published by the Futures Industry Association (FIA).[3]
History
TOCOM was established on Nov. 1, 1984 through the merger of the Tokyo Textile Exchange, (established 1951), the Tokyo Rubber Exchange (1952) and the Tokyo Gold Exchange (1982).[4]
Electronic trading was launched in 1991, and the energy complex was established in 1999, with connections to ISVs following in 2003 to provide access for overseas investors.
In 2005, TOCOM clearing operations were moved from an in-house clearing house to the Japan Commodity Clearing House (JCCH), an independent organization. In 2005, volume on TOCOM was about sixty-two million contracts.
On Feb. 9, 2006 the CFTC granted TOCOM a Part 30 Exemption.[5]
The electronic exchange announced in June 2007 that it planned to pursue demutualization and a possible initial public offering (IPO), but has also been linked to government-sponsored plans to create a single Japanese securities and derivatives platform centered around the Tokyo Stock Exchange. A task force was established in mid-2007 after members expressed support for demutualization and a possible IPO.[6]
TOCOM also introduced a new trading system to facilitate 24-hour trading in 2009.
In a written message on the TOCOM Web site, then exchange chairman and CEO Masaaki Nangaku said the 2008 fiscal year is viewed as a "major turning point" in the history of the exchange. He wrote that as TOCOM makes its market even more reliable and convenient, the exchange will concert its efforts to firmly positioning itself as a primary commodity exchange in Asia.[7]
In 2008, the Japan Commodity Futures Industry Association requested that the Tokyo Commodity Exchange and the Tokyo Grain Exchange merge to cut management costs.[8] ref>
On May 28, 2009, Trading Technologies, one of the largest providers of trading technology to exchanges, announced that it had connected its trading system to the TOCOM.[9]
On Apr. 15, 2010, RTS Realtime Systems Group (RTS), another leading global trading technology provider, announced that it would offer clients connectivity to TOCOM.[10]
On Apr. 23, 2010, Tokyo Commodity Exchange and the Singapore Mercantile Exchange (SMX) announced that they had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore mechanisms to enhance market liquidity and efficiencies within each exchange, and jointly develop new business opportunities.[11]
In March of 2011, CQG expanded it's services to the Asian trading community by connecting its Hosted Exchange Gateways to the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM). This follows CQG's recent provision of hosted Direct Market Access to the Osaka Securities Exchange and the Tokyo Stock Exchange. [12]
Key People
- Tadashi Ezaki, President & CEO
Structure and Regulation
TOCOM has 80 members and 54 member FCMs. Morgan Stanley became the first overseas member in 2005. Clearing was switched in 2006 from an in-house unit to the independent Japan Commodity Clearing House. The exchange is regulated by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
In early August 2010, the exchange began allowing foreign commodity brokers to participate in its market through intermediaries, expanding the ways through which a foreign market participant can trade on TOCOM. Until the change, foreign commodity brokers wishing to trade on TOCOM needed to either acquire membership or consign trades directly to a broker member. The rule change came about as several broker members converted their business category to "intermediary" and as some foreign commodity brokers newly entered the market as intermediaries, raising the number of intermediaries in Japan. Some of these intermediaries actively pursue overseas marketing activities and a number of companies wished to be allowed to intermediate trades from foreign commodity brokers.[13]
Product Development
Gold options were the single-largest product in 2006, accounting for a third of total contract volume, with gasoline futures ranked second at 22 percent, followed by platinum at 16 percent and rubber at 14 percent.
The merged exchange started with precious metals, rubber and textiles with the latter withdrawn in 1991. The complex was expanded with palladium futures in 1992, adding aluminum in 1997 and establishing the oil market - with futures in gasoline and kerosene - in 1999. An unsuccessful push into Middle East crude oil futures followed in 2001, and gas oil futures - now also suspended - followed in 2003.
Options on gold futures were launched in 2004 and the Tocom Index was started in 2006.
Contracts Listed
- TOCOM Gold futures
- TOCOM Gold futures options
- TOCOM Mini-Gold futures
- TOCOM Silver futures
- TOCOM Platinum futures
- TOCOM Palladium futures
- TOCOM Crude Oil futures
- TOCOM Gasoline futures
- TOCOM Kerosene futures
- TOCOM Gas Oil futures
- [TOCOM Chukyo-Gasoline futures]
- [TOCOM Chukyo-Kerosene futures]
- TOCOM Rubber futures
- [Nikkei-TOCOM Commodity Index futures(TOCOM NEXT)]
Members
There are membership types at TOCOM: broker member, trade member, affiliate member and associate member. As of March 2012, there were 85 members.
Broker members are granted direct access, voting rights, but there is a high initial entry cost. These are members accredited with a Futures Commission Merchant license. They can conduct both proprietary trading and brokerage business.
Market members are allowed direct access and voting rights and initial costs are lower than broker members. They are only allowed to conduct proprietary trading.
General members are not allowed direct access, but do have voting rights. Their initial costs are lower than both broker and market members. They can only conduct proprietary trading, but must trade through broker members to have access to the TOCOM markets.
Lastly, assoiciate members have neither direct access or voting rights. This is the lowest cost membership.
Annual Volumes
2009
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange ranked number 32 in 2009 in the Futures Industry Association's global list of top 53 derivatives exchanges measured by volume but fell almost 30% on 2008's volume.[16] The FIA list, published in early April 2010, reports that that TCX's total volume for 2009 dropped to 28.9 million.
Publications
References
- ↑ Tokyo Commodity Exchange Marks A New Beginning As A Corporation. MondoVisione.
- ↑ Message from the President. TOCOM.
- ↑ 2010 Annual Volume Survey. Futures Industry.org.
- ↑ Tocom Pamphlet. TOCOM.
- ↑ CFTC Granted Part 30 Exemption effective on February 9, 2006. TOCOM.
- ↑ TOCOM members back demutualization for IPO. Financial Times.
- ↑ Message From The Chairman. TOCOM.
- ↑ Industry Body to Request 2 Tokyo Commodity Exchanges to Merge. JCN.
- ↑ Trading Technologies Connects to Japan's Tocom. The Financial Times.
- ↑ RTS Offers High-Performance Access to Tokyo Commodity Exchange. RTS.
- ↑ TOCOM/SMX Sign MOU to advance derivatives trading. Commodities Now.
- ↑ CQG connects to TOCOM. Automated Trader.
- ↑ Press Release. Tokyo Commodity Exchange.
- ↑ List of FCMs (Broker Trading Participants). TOCOM.
- ↑ List of Trading Participants. TOCOM.
- ↑ 2009 Annual Volume Survey. FIA magazine.
