.jpg)
Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) announced today that SGX AsiaClear® will offer the clearing of over-the-counter (OTC) Balance-of-Month (BOM) Dubai Crude Oil Swap and Kerosene Swap contracts from 2 August 2007. The addition of these new BOM Dubai Crude Oil and BOM Kerosene contracts complements SGX AsiaClear®'s unique suite of BOM contracts, bringing the number of BOM contracts listed for clearing to five. SGX AsiaClear® is the first in Asia to offer OTC Balance-of-Month clearing for oil swaps contracts, which include Fuel Oil 180 cst, Fuel Oil 380 cst and Gasoil.
The new Dubai Crude Oil and Kerosene contracts are introduced in response to feedback from market participants, and to address the need for such an offering in the Asian marketplace. The positive response to SGX AsiaClear®'s existing BOM Fuel Oil 180 cst, Fuel Oil 380 cst and Gasoil contracts is also an indication of the increasing demand for BOM contracts by the industry.
BOM Dubai Crude Oil Swap and Kerosene Swap are traded as individual day contracts in the current month. The final settlements of these contracts are derived from the arithmetic average of Platts' daily spot assessment prices from the contract date until the last business day of the contract month.
On each business day, two BOM contracts comprising the current business day contract and the next business day contract for Dubai Crude Oil and Kerosene will be listed for clearing. The following contracts will be listed on 2 August 2007 when SGX clearing of BOM Gasoil Swap commences at 8:00 am that day:
- 2 August 07 Balance-of-Month Dubai Crude Oil Swap Contract
- 3 August 07 Balance-of-Month Dubai Crude Oil Swap Contract
- 2 August 07 Balance-of-Month Kerosene Swap Contract
- 3 August 07 Balance-of-Month Kerosene Swap Contract
About SGX AsiaClear®
SGX AsiaClear® is Singapore Exchange's OTC Clearing Business and Facility for energy and freight derivatives. The SGX AsiaClear® Facility is Asia's first and only over-the-counter (OTC) clearing platform, under the Singapore Exchange Derivatives Clearing Ltd (SGX Clearing House), in which OTC brokers can conveniently register the OTC trades of market participants for SGX clearing and netting. It offers a 20-hour electronic clearing facility for 24 OTC products covering oil, wet/tanker forward freight agreements (FFAs) and dry bulk FFAs.
Together with its Clearing Members, the SGX Clearing House performs the central counter-party clearing role. It manages the risks using its daily marked-to-market and margining system. This means a minimum margin deposit is required for each outstanding position. Each position is then marked-to-market or revalued daily, and any variation profit or loss is accounted and settled daily among the Clearing Members, representing their clients.
