Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX) Held the “2005 International Futures Seminar” Yesterday( 5th Of December) Successfully

In order to keep up with the trend of international futures market and share successful foreign experiences with other exchanges, yesterday TAIFEX held the “2005 International Futures Seminar” at the Taipei Sheraton Hotel( 5th of December). Around 200 people from related industry attended the seminar. Mr. Daung-Yen Lu, Vice Chairperson of Financial Supervisory Commission, started the seminar with a speech, wherein he talked about the current status, reforms and outlooks of Taiwan futures market from a regulotor’s point of view. The keynote speakers invited include President of Futures Industry Association(FIA) and futures experts from foreign markets. TAIFEX was ranked 18th among worldwide exchanges as of the end of July 2005 according to FIA’s statistics. The trading volume of TAIEX options was ranked No. 3 in the stock index options category by the Trade Data Global Service. Taiwan futures market has attracted more attentions and interests from overseas investors. This is the first time the President of FIA visited Taiwan. Mr. Damgard spoke highly regarding the growth of TAIFEX. But the trading volume is not the only issue. He urged Taifex to continue its effort so as to cope with the trend toward internationalization. In his speech, he mentioned that the trading volume of futures markets has been growing at 15% a year over the past 20 years. Since 2000, the rate of growth has been accelerating. With the innovation of technology and the increasing sophistication of global investors, the speed of future growth will be even more unmesurable. Among all, the achievements of Asian futures market are far more outstanding when compared to other regions of the world. Citing the REFCO case, Mr. Damgard particularly stressed the importance of global cooperation among exchanges and regulators. His suggestions were no doubt very beneficial to the future development of Taiwan futures market.

The spot gold price surged to a near-23-year high at US$503 an ounce in Comex, NY a few days ago. It is the best time for TAIFEX to launch its gold futures contract . This is also the first commodity futures product in Taiwan. In order for the investors to gain some understanding of this product, the topics of the seminar mostly concerned the functions, outlooks and operation of the gold futures. Mr. John Carter, President of Trade the Market, spoke of the Gold as a hedge against the US Dollars. Under the threat of rampant terrorism, Mr. Carter predicted the demand for gold will only increase in the foreseeable future. Mr. Kazuhiko Senzaki ,Executive Director of TOCOM , shared TOCOM’s successful development experience in gold futures . He also provided insightful suggestions for TAIFEX in developing gold futures. Mr. Ikemizu Yuichi ,Head trader of Mitsui Tokyo, Precious Metals Department , covered the international trading strategies of gold futures and briefly introduced current status of some major gold futures exchanges. The panel , moderated by president of TAIFEX Dr,Foo-shiung Ho, elaborated on the FCM’s point of views regarding the reforms and outlooks of Taiwan’s futures market.

TAIFEX continues its growth in 2005 . The daily average trading volume amounted to 361,174 contracts as of the end of October, an increase of 53% as compared to 2004. To enhance the depth of the market and increase the participation of institutional investors, TAIFEX has applied and received No-Action Letters issued by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission(CFTC) for its TAIEX futures, Mini TAIEX futures, Electronic Sector Index futures(TE) and the Finance Sector Index futures(TF). Currently, the application for Part 30 exemption is underway.In addition, TAIFEX is planning to allow non-hedgintg purpose trading and omnibus account for foreign participants. In the area of product development, TAIFEX will launch International board products, including US dollar denominated gold futures and stock index futures and options next year. This seminar not only raised the understanding and interests of investors in futures products/ international futures market. It also served as “ warm-up” for the TAIFEX gold futures contract to be launched 2006. The seminar ended successfully around 5 :00pm yesterday afternoon.