TOCOM Granted Registration As Foreign Board Of Trade By CFTC

The Tokyo Commodity Exchange, Inc. (TOCOM), Japan’s largest commodity futures exchange and one of the most prominent in Asia, announced today that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has issued an Order granting TOCOM’s application for registration as a Foreign Board of Trade (FBOT) under the U.S. Commodity Exchange Act on January 20. FBOT registration permits TOCOM to provide its Members and market participants located in the U.S. with direct access to its electronic order entry and trade matching system.

A foreign board of trade registered with the CFTC must demonstrate that it meets regulatory requirements comparable to those required of U.S. futures exchanges. Further, the CFTC must determine that the foreign board of trade’s regulatory authorities support and enforce regulatory objectives that are substantially equivalent to the CFTC’s objectives, in particular, with respect to market integrity, customer protection, clearing and settlement and the enforcement of the rules of the foreign board of trade and its clearing organization.

TOCOM President & CEO Tadashi Ezaki commented: “We are proud to receive FBOT registration, which confirms the soundness and reliability of our exchange and our market and will enhance confidence in TOCOM as the exchange of choice for trading commodities in Asia.  As a result of our efforts to increase our global competitiveness, we have seen a significant increase in market participation from overseas, which has reached as much as 46% of total volume. We are poised to use the FBOT registration to further expand global participation from the U.S.”