Singapore Bullion Market Association

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SBMA News

By Albert Cheng, CEO, SBMA

Published on June 1, 2017
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It has been a busy quarter at SBMA. We have been working with various stakeholders both within and outside the ASEAN region to try to open up various markets. Here is an update of our activities:

February 27-March 3

Organised a trip to Myanmar with assistance from IE Singapore, which was also attended by a key SBMA member. Initiated dialogue with key stakeholders from Myanmar Federation of Mining Association (MFMA), Myanmar Gold Development Public Company Limited (MGD), Myanmar Gold Entrepreneurs Association (MGEA), The Shwe Moe Yan Co. Ltd., as well as with the Central Bank of Myanmar. Topics of discussion included international standards for fineness for gold bars, export policies, tax policies, domestic gold production, and refining facilities in Myanmar. The trip included visits to gold trading floors in Yangon and Mandalay, organised by the Myanmar Gold Entrepreneurs Association and the Mandalay Gold Entrepreneurs Association. Also visited two local refineries in Mandalay, and retail gold shops in Yangon and Mandalay.

Trading floor of the Myanmar Gold Entrepreneurs Association
Aung Thamardi 10 Ticals Bar
March 24-26

Attended the Singapore International Coin Fair 2017, an annual fair showcasing products like coins, mints, and antiques, to meet with key industry stakeholders.

March 27

Organised the Bullion Market Outlook 2017 seminar, which was attended by numerous precious metals market stakeholders. Refer to page 16-17 for a summary of the event.

March 24-28

Hosted several Myanmar gold industry participants and arranged meetings between them and SBMA members to initiate a dialogue on topics concerning the development of the frontier market and to exchange best practices.

April 12

Press conference with IE Singapore to announce the Asia Pacific Precious Metals Conference (APPMC) and discuss Singapore’s key features that make put in a good position to reprise its role as the region’s global precious metals trading hub. Questions from journalists, from media like The Straits Times, MediaCorp, Bloomberg, and High Net Worth, included the outlook for precious metals this year, macroeconomic factors, and how they would affect Singapore’s plans to be a hub for these metals, the biggest challenge that will hinder such plans, whether China and India were seen as competitors to the local market, updates on the SGX Kilobar contract and details of the upcoming June conference.

IE Singapore Divisional Director, Metals & Minerals, Lester Lu and SBMA CEO Albert Cheng at the press conference.
April 18-20

CEO Albert Cheng presented “Building a Physical Gold Quadrangle in Asia Pacific (Shanghai-Hong Kong-Singapore-Perth)” at SGE International Advisors’ Conference & Global Gold Market Summit 2017 in Shenzhen, China. The presentation introduced two new concepts: The Western Gold Quadrangle, centred around four markets (London-New York-Zurich-Johannesburg), and the Eastern Gold Quadrangle (Shanghai-Hong Kong-Singapore-Perth), as well as a discussion of the emergence of a third market bloc – ASEAN. Particularly, the changing geographical sources of demand was revisited, and proposed that hubs like Singapore and Hong Kong could be gateways and conduits to link ASEAN with the rest of the world to sustain the demand for gold and drive new opportunities in terms of supply, customers, and untapped business opportunities/growth.

SBMA CEO Albert Cheng speaking in Shenzhen, China.
May 16

CEO Albert Cheng spoke at Bloomberg Intelligence’s sixth annual Precious Metals Forum, as part of the precious metals panel. This was an informative event featuring keynote speeches, panel discussion and expert presentations covering physical and paper precious metals market. Topics of discussion included global precious metals markets outlook, platinum investment demand, future India demand and luxury market.

UPCOMING EVENTS

11–13 August 2017. Goa, India.

14th India International Gold Convention

The three day event is a platform for the entire Indian bullion industry to deliberate on various challenges facing the industry, articulate the possible solutions and set an agenda for the development of the industry. More information at www.goldconvention.in.

15-17 October 2017. Barcelona, Spain.

LBMA/LPPM Precious Metals Conference 2017

Senior representatives from all sectors of the precious metals markets will meet in Barcelona, Spain, for the premier event in the industry, now in its 18th year. Please visit www.lbma.org.uk for registration and event details.

Membership

Onboarding of ANZ Bank, J. Rotbart & Co. (Strategic Transactions Limited), and UBS AG.