SGX To Trade New Fuel Oil Contract - Wake Up Bursa!

With Singapore's status as the world's largest bunkering port and the world's third largest oil trading hub, SGX said the new contract will further enhance the country's attraction as an international oil pricing centre. The contract is based on the Residual Marine Grade 380 ISO 8217, primarily bunker fuel oil supplied to ships. Physical delivery will be through free-on-board or inter-tank transfer at exchange-designated Singapore oil installations. The minimum trading contract size is 100 metric tonnes per lot and the minimum deliverable size will be 2,000 metric tonnes or 20 lots.

Market-makers and liquidity providers will be available for this contract, SGX says.

According to Lam Yi Young, chief executive of the Maritime and Port of Authority of Singapore (MPA), the new contract is expected to attract demand from local and international participants. "SGX's fuel oil futures contract will encourage greater participation in Singapore's marine fuel market both from local and international shipping and bunkering communities," he says.

The Simex contract was for fuel oil with a viscosity of 180 centistokes, widely considered the global benchmark.

However, the two previous offerings failed to take off. The Simex contract was later withdrawn; CME Group still lists its fuel oil contract though volumes have failed to ignite.

So despite Singapore being home to the world’s busiest port in terms of shipping tonnage, what went wrong? Elena Sing, SGX’s head of commodities, says it is simply a matter of timing. She told Futures and Options World inthat market participants had approached the exchange asking for the contract, especially firms that could not access the over-the-counter market.

“The Simex contract was in existence nearly 20 years ago,” Sing says. “Back then there was limited storage space, whereas now Singapore has extensive storage capacity. There are also a far greater number of market participants.”

Sing concludes: “The market is ready for this new futures contract.”

SGX’s optimism is shared by others in Singapore. Chong Lit Cheong, chief executive of International Enterprise Singapore, says: “Singapore has been one of the leading physical commodities trading hubs in Asia Pacific, in particular for the oil trading sector. The launch of SGX’s FO 380 contract will undoubtedly further strengthen our value proposition to the global oil trading community.”

The regional head of commodities at a futures commission merchant in Singapore says: “We’ve had quite a lot of interest from our customers. Those clients are mostly already active in the oil market, rather than the hedge funds.”

However, success for the contract is far from guaranteed, say industry insiders. The 180 centistoke standard, rather than 380, is the global benchmark, and that although Singapore is a hub for oil trading, much of that trading is entrenched in New York, particularly the Platts-linked OTC contract.

The settlement process is extremely complicated. SGX says it will match buyers and sellers by volume, before loadings are fixed. For unmatched volumes, parties will settle their trades against the monthly closing price for the contract.

With firms like Shell, BP and Singapore Petroleum Co, as well as traders Vitol, Glencore, Chemoil, Hin Leong, PetroChina, shipper Maersk and bunker supplier Equatorial Marine all involved in forming the contract, such large players may provide the liquidity so sought after by non-physical players in the oil market.

The contract will have two daily trading sessions: 9am to 7pm and 8pm to 10.55pm. The 7pm closing price will be the price for the day’s settlement. The monthly settlement is the average settlement price for the last five days of the month.

Comments: Despite two false starts, SGX kept at it and by bringing in the major players as "consultants" in setting up the contract, it should have a better chance at success. This brings us back to Bursa, where foreign funds have been staying away for the past 16 months. The palm oil futures USD contract has not yet borne fruit. Could we be in danger of losing the palm oil futures stranglehold soon?

Sometimes, just because something is chugging along does not mean we can do nothing. We need to enlarge the pool of palm oil traders and lure more and more big companies to trade the existing RM or USD contracts. Only by being bigger will the contract stay put. If we do nothing, I am very sure SGX will try to launch a USD palm oil contract in the near future.

After selling 25% of our derivatives unit to CME Group, we have yet to see tangible benefits!!??

Yes, we can sit and say that KL is not a financial center and will face a lot of obstacles. We need to be proactive. We should nurture our niche markets, be it in Islamic finance or palm oil, or even rubber and tin. We do not seem to have a roadmap or a cohesive strategy. We do not seem to have a bigger picture appreciation of the evolving needs and demands on these so called "home advantage" products. As in many things in Malaysia, we do not have a proactive mindset, we have a poor strategic mindset about most things, we have a high propensity to churn out brilliant power points but that is usually not complemented by a similar record in proper execution, and we usually do not spend enough time on details and crossing the T's and inking the dots.

p/s photos: Sandra Dewi

SGX Cracks The Whip

One may think that there are plenty of shenanigans in Malaysia, but they are just as rampant even in Singapore stock market. There are many small penny stocks that are being played like there is no tomorrow. Controlling share blocks change hands frequently causing many to speculate on "new order of business" or causes investors to bet on personalities, or mavericks as we like to all them. There are also problems with some foreign listings. The new rules by SGX are necessary.

One of the more important development would be the need to disclose on shares being collateralised by the controlling shareholder - we all know what that will mean. It may also hit some Malaysian company owners who have pledged their shares in Singapore in exchange for lines of credit - they certainly will not want that information to be in the public. Can you guess which Malaysian companies will be affected? I know a few but to put them up would be unethical, so do your own research and be careful. In fact some may already be "affected".

Business Times Singapore: Errant directors of listed companies may come under greater scrutiny from the Singapore Exchange (SGX), which could object to their appointment and rap them publicly.

Proposed new rules also have more safeguards against poor governance for listings with large overseas operations. They demand more disclosure over possible changes in control of companies due to share pledges for loans. In a consultation paper issued yesterday, SGX said that when companies become the subject of an investigation of “irregularities or other wrongdoing”, they may require approval to appoint directors, chief executives (CEOs) and chief financial officers (CFOs).

Controlling shareholders under investigation may be prevented from installing a proxy after being booted out from the company.

SGX also seeks to cement its right to censure publicly or object to the appointment of key executive officers or directors if they have breached regulations or have “refused to cooperate with the regulators”.

The moves will make directors and executives of public listed companies more conscious of their duties, said Lee Suet Fern, managing partner of Stamford Law Corporation. “There was otherwise a lacuna where errant directors and executives who had caused breaches of our rules but had not actually committed a crime, could continue unscathed.”

An outgoing CFO must also confirm with SGX that there are no irregularities or material differences in opinion with the board or management. This could act as a whistle-blowing mechanism. The regulator also wants companies to ensure that an independent director (ID) is sitting on the board at all times. In 2006, now-delisted retailer Robinson saw all its IDs quit after a board tussle.

For foreign listings, or companies with “offshore principal subsidiaries”, at least one ID who is staying in Singapore should be on the board. One market watcher cautioned that this might put too much burden on IDs and deter some from sitting on the board. If foreign listings are being audited by overseas auditors, new rules may require such companies to have a joint sign-off with a Singapore accounting firm for the accounts, as mentioned by then-CEO Hsieh Fu Hua in August.

Hsieh added then that controlling shareholders may soon need to disclosure their share pledges to the public, an issue that had been magnified by the recent slew of S-Chips’ CEOs losing their controlling stake to debtors after they defaulted on loans.

Under the proposal, shareholders must publicise their pledged shares when the total stake is at least 30 per cent, when an enforcement may cause a breach of loan covenants by the company, or when the controlling shareholder is the single-largest one and has pledged at least half of his stake.

“It becomes a company matter and not a personal matter in such cases and I believe the shareholders’ right to know far outweigh the privacy concerns,” said Mak Yuen Teen, co-director of the Corporate Governance and Financial Reporting Centre at NUS.

In addition, SGX proposes to ban the transfer of shares in a company that is under trading suspension. It wants controlling shareholders and their associates to have their shares custodised with the Central Depository or a depository agent who has made arrangements with SGX to restrict transfers of shares during suspension.

Newly listed companies have also been asked by SGX to consider engaging a governance adviser for two years after their initial public offering. In some instances, SGX may ask the company to appoint an adviser. The consultation paper will be available for feedback until Jan 15.

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In a bid to increase market transparency, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) has said that it is making it compulsory for brokers to mark all short-sell orders. A short-sell order is defined as any sell order where the seller does not own the quantity of shares sold at the time of placing the order. SGX said it will institute this policy of marking short-sell orders in the first half of 2010 in consultation with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). In addition, statistics of aggregate short-selling activity for each individual security will be published daily.


p/s photos: Luna Maya

Free Me For Better Participation, Bursa & SGX Please Read - Free HK Live Quotes

The idea of providing real-time stock market prices on websites free of charge is not new. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), a subsidiary of NYSE Euronext, introduced a pilot programme in July last year that allows service providers to disseminate real-time last sale prices of transactions on the NYSE for free if they pay a monthly flat fee (the fee has been reduced to US$70,000 from the original US$100,000). Since the NYSE Realtime Reference Prices programme does not include key information such as the size of each trade or bid/ask quotations, the free real-time prices are not in a context in which trading or order-routing
decisions are made unless the service providers also offer the key market information.

Free basic Hong Kong securities and derivatives market price quotes are currently available on the HKEx website with a 15-minute delay. The delayed quotes are the most popular service of the website and HKEx is exploring the feasibility of offering free basic real-time prices from its markets on one or more websites in Hong Kong and/or elsewhere (not necessarily via the HKEx website).

Exchanges hoard their live prices as if they were gold nuggets, charging an arm and a couple of legs for anyone wishing to have live quotes. It is strange and peculiar that the average investor has to go to broking halls or call up their dealers to get live prices. I wonder what the commissions and fees #1 and fees #2 are for... why make it so damn difficult to get information. Information is VITAL for all investors, and that's the one thing that all exchanges have been making life tough. Think outside the box la... if we have better information flow, investors will trade more.

The HK Exchange move is timely and more so because the general populace of China is so scattered. The investors in smaller cities will things much tougher. If Bursa provides a similar business model, I think you will lure traders and investors from Australia, NZ, HK, China and of course Singapore. The general trend is to trade via your e-broking account. If information can be relayed via the net without charges, that can only help. Anyway, the free live feed still does not come with bid/offer size and rankings, so the exchanges will still hold on to the prized goose.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) announced last Friday that its information business subsidiary, HKEx Information Services Limited, has signed an agreement with each of the companies listed below (the service providers) for provision of real-time basic prices from HKEx's securities market at the six designated websites.

Service Providers (in alphabetical order by region)

Company Name	Designated Website
Hong Kong
AAStocks.com Limited	www.aastocks.com
ETNet Limited	www.etnet.com.hk
Oriental Press Group Limited	www.on.cc
Mainland
Beijing Sohu New Media Information Technology Co., Limited	www.sohu.com
China Finance Online Co. Limited	www.jrj.com.cn
Tencent Holdings Limited	www.qq.com

The Free Real-time Basic Market Prices Website Service (or Free Prices Website Service) will be soft-launched on 5 October in both Hong Kong and the Mainland. The trial version of the new website service will be available at the designated websites for investors to access real-time basic prices from HKEx's securities market free of charge from the soft-launch date. The service will be officially launched on 1 January 2010 under a pilot programme that will last till the end of December 2011. HKEx plans to review the pilot programme in its latter stage to determine whether and, if so, in what form the service should be continued after 2011.

The main objectives of the new website service are to expand dissemination of Hong Kong securities market information and raise the Hong Kong securities market's profile in the Mainland. HKEx believes that the free service will benefit investors and therefore be welcomed by the market.

The real-time market data content provided under the Free Prices Website Service comprises:

	Nominal price/closing price and last trade price for all securities traded on the Stock Exchange;
	Indicative Equilibrium Price (or IEP) and Indicative Equilibrium Volume (or IEV), which are calculated during the pre-opening trading session, for all securities traded on the Stock Exchange;
	Turnover value and volume of all securities traded on the Stock Exchange; and
	High/low prices of the day of all securities traded on the Stock Exchange.

The attachment below provides answers to some possible questions about the new service.

1.	Why does HKEx consider the six service providers will suffice for the public demand for free real-time Hong Kong stock market information?
	The Free Prices Website Service will provide basic market data and is designed to provide an additional delivery channel for Hong Kong securities market data. The service will complement existing channels and market data services provided by HKEx-licensed real-time information vendors by increasing the variety of information services available in the market to meet different needs of investors.
	Existing dissemination channels will not be affected by the new service. Any party satisfying the licensing requirements can still apply for a vendor licence from HKEx and provide market data services to investors. Indeed, there are now more than 120 real-time market data information vendors, including eight Mainland companies, collectively offering more than 700 securities and derivatives market data services. Market data services offered by the Mainland information vendors include streaming real-time securities market data provided on the Internet.
	The new service will initially be offered for two years to enable HKEx and the market to get familiar with the new service, and for HKEx to better understand its impact on the market in general and the other market data services currently provided by licensed information vendors in particular. HKEx has committed to closely monitor market reaction to the new service and review the service no later than the last six-month period of the two-year pilot period to decide whether and, if so, in what form the service should be continued.

2.	Was there any assessment of the likely impact on existing information vendors and revenue of HKEx?
	HKEx believes the basic snapshot price data that will be available under the new service are not readily substitutable for the great variety of information services being offered by existing information vendors. HKEx believes the impact on the business of existing information vendors and HKEx's information income should be insignificant.
	HKEx also believes that the new service should be beneficial to the Hong Kong securities industry as the service will help build greater interest in the Hong Kong market, particularly among Mainland users.

3.	Will HKEx further extend the data content of the Free Prices Website Service?
	The real-time market data content provided under the Free Prices Website Service comprises:
		Nominal price/closing price and last trade price for all securities traded on the Stock Exchange;
		Indicative Equilibrium Price, or IEP, and Indicative Equilibrium Volume, or IEV - which are calculated during the pre-opening trading sessions - for all securities traded on the Stock Exchange;
		Turnover value and volume of all securities traded on the Stock Exchange; and
		High/low prices of the day of all securities traded on the Stock Exchange.
	The new service does not include bid/ask quotation, market depth or broker queue information. HKEx has no current plans to extend the data content of the Free Prices Website Service.

p/s photo: Bowie Tsang