The Dubai Mercantile Exchange Limited (DME), a joint venture between Tatweer, a member of Dubai Holding, and the New York Mercantile Exchange Inc. (NYMEX), announced today that it has received no objections from the Sultanate of Oman's Capital Market Authority, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ireland and the New Zealand Securities Commission and a regulatory authorisation from the Swiss Federal Banking Commission.
The regulatory approvals include the DME's first from Middle Eastern and European jurisdictions and further approval from the Asia-Pacific region. They follow last month's 'no objection' letter from International Enterprise Singapore and 'no restriction to provide direct access' from Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry.
Such approvals from overseas jurisdictions are essential as the DME seeks to attract participation from a wide range of international as well as local and regional energy traders. The DME's clients in the Sultanate of Oman, Switzerland, Ireland and New Zealand will be able to access the DME Direct™ electronic trading platform when the Exchange launches on May 1 2007, subject to the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) granting the DME a license to operate as an Authorised Market Institution. The authorisations also allow the DME to admit entities from these jurisdictions as members, providing they meet the relevant DME criteria.
Welcoming these decisions, Gary King, Chief Executive of the DME, said: "This is yet another important milestone for us as we continue to progress towards the historic launch of the Middle East's first energy futures exchange next month. These approvals demonstrate our global reach and are the latest of many requested from regulators around the world to enable our customers to trade on the Exchange from day one. The regulatory approval process is also well advanced with the DFSA in Dubai," he added.
Based in the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC), the DME recently announced other significant progress including the completion of its two-storey high, 500 square-metre, state-of-the-art trading floor which is located in the DIFC, and receipt of a high volume of applications for all categories of membership.
The initial three contracts to be traded on the DME when it launches will be the physically delivered Oman Crude Oil Futures Contract and two financially settled futures contracts, the Brent-Oman Spread Contract and a WTI-Oman Spread Contract.
The DME, ENOC Supply & Trading (LLC) and Emirates Airline are currently exploring the potential development of a jet fuel futures contract in collaboration with other industry stakeholders with a view to listing the first jet fuel futures contract on the Exchange at a later date in 2007.
