Tocom joins Comex in concealing identities of market riggers

Tokyo Commodity Exchange to offer investors greater anonymity

From Reuters
via Business Times, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Saturday, March 4, 2006

a href=http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BT/Saturday/Corporate/BT554630.htt...
txt/Article/

TOKYO, March 3 -- The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (Tocom) hopes to
attract more foreigners and a wider range of investors, including
institutions, with plans to bolster players' anonymity and list new
products, a senior exchange official said today.

Tocom, Japan's top commodity exchange, aims to discontinue its
practice of disclosing daily outstanding positions for each member
starting early in the next business year, which begins in April.

quot;More overseas investors, funds and hedgers will be comfortable
about taking positions, as their positions won't be fully exposed,quot;
Tocom president Michimasa Hamada said in an interview.

Rather than disclose the information daily for each member, whose
ranks include US investment banks, Japanese commodity brokerages and
trading houses, Tocom plans to provide outstanding positions broken
down by category of investor.

Hamada said the exchange has not decided what the categories will be
or how often it will release the information.

In the US, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates
futures and options trade, discloses open interest data by various
types of investors on a weekly basis but does not name the
institutions that hold positions.

Tocom's overall turnover fell by 19 per cent to 61.8 million
contracts in 2005 from the previous year.

In terms of trading volume, Tocom dropped to fifth place among
specialised commodity exchanges around the world last year from
third place in 2004.

New Japanese commodity laws implemented last May, which included
restrictions on what were seen as high-pressure sales techniques,
appear to have restrained trading on domestic exchanges.

But foreigners have increased their presence on the exchange in
recent years, Hamada said.

Of trading volume done for customers' accounts, which represents
about 40 per cent of the exchange total, foreigners accounted for 15
per cent last year, up from just 5 per cent five years ago.

----------------------------------------------------

To subscribe to GATA's dispatches, send an e-mail to:

gata-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to:

gata-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

----------------------------------------------------

RECOMMENDED INTERNET SITES
FOR DAILY MONITORING OF GOLD
AND PRECIOUS METALS
NEWS AND ANALYSIS

Free sites:

a href=http://www.jsmineset.comhttp://www.jsmineset.com/a

a href=http://www.cbs.marketwatch.comhttp://www.cbs.marketwatch.com/a

a href=http://www.mineweb.com/http://www.mineweb.com//a

a href=http://www.gold-eagle.com/http://www.gold-eagle.com//a

a href=http://www.kitco.com/http://www.kitco.com//a

a href=http://www.usagold.com/http://www.usagold.com//a

a href=http://www.usagold.com/amk/usagoldmarketupdate.htmlhttp://www.usagold.co...

a href=http://www.GoldSeek.com/http://www.GoldSeek.com//a

a href=http://www.GoldReview.com/http://www.GoldReview.com//a

a href=http://www.capitalupdates.com/http://www.capitalupdates.com//a

a href=http://www.DailyReckoning.comhttp://www.DailyReckoning.com/a

a href=http://www.goldenbar.com/http://www.goldenbar.com//a

a href=http://www.silver-investor.comhttp://www.silver-investor.com/a

a href=http://www.thebulliondesk.com/http://www.thebulliondesk.com//a

a href=http://www.sharelynx.com/http://www.sharelynx.com//a

a href=http://www.mininglife.com/http://www.mininglife.com//a

a href=http://www.financialsense.comhttp://www.financialsense.com/a

a href=http://www.goldensextant.comhttp://www.goldensextant.com/a

a href=http://www.goldismoney.info/index.htmlhttp://www.goldismoney.info/index....

a href=http://www.howestreet.comhttp://www.howestreet.com/a

a href=http://www.depression2.tvhttp://www.depression2.tv/a

a href=http://www.moneyfiles.org/http://www.moneyfiles.org//a

a href=http://www.howestreet.comhttp://www.howestreet.com/a

a href=http://www.minersmanual.com/minernews.htmlhttp://www.minersmanual.com/mi...

a href=http://www.a1-guide-to-gold-investments.com/euro-vs-dollar.htmlhttp://ww...

a href=http://www.goldcolony.comhttp://www.goldcolony.com/a

a href=http://www.miningstocks.comhttp://www.miningstocks.com/a

a href=http://www.mineralstox.comhttp://www.mineralstox.com/a

a href=http://www.freemarketnews.comhttp://www.freemarketnews.com/a

a href=http://www.321gold.comhttp://www.321gold.com/a

a href=http://www.SilverSeek.comhttp://www.SilverSeek.com/a

a href=http://www.investmentrarities.comhttp://www.investmentrarities.com/a

a href=http://www.kereport.comhttp://www.kereport.com/a
(Korelin Business Report -- audio)

a href=http://www.plata.com.mx/plata/home.htmhttp://www.plata.com.mx/plata/home...
(In Spanish)
a href=http://www.plata.com.mx/plata/plata/english.htmhttp://www.plata.com.mx/p...
(In English)

a href=http://www.resourceinvestor.comhttp://www.resourceinvestor.com/a

a href=http://www.miningmx.comhttp://www.miningmx.com/a

a href=http://www.prudentbear.comhttp://www.prudentbear.com/a

a href=http://www.dollarcollapse.comhttp://www.dollarcollapse.com/a

a href=http://www.kitcocasey.comhttp://www.kitcocasey.com/a

a href=http://000999.forumactif.com/http://000999.forumactif.com//a

a href=http://www.golddrivers.com/http://www.golddrivers.com//a

a href=http://www.goldpennystocks.com/http://www.goldpennystocks.com//a

a href=http://www.oroyfinanzas.com/http://www.oroyfinanzas.com//a

Subscription sites:

a href=http://www.lemetropolecafe.com/http://www.lemetropolecafe.com//a

a href=http://www.goldinsider.com/http://www.goldinsider.com//a

a href=http://www.hsletter.comhttp://www.hsletter.com/a

a href=http://www.interventionalanalysis.comhttp://www.interventionalanalysis.c...

a href=http://www.investmentindicators.com/http://www.investmentindicators.com//a

a href=http://www.goldletterdv.com/http://www.goldletterdv.com//a

Eagle Ranch discussion site:

a href=http://os2eagle.net/checksum.htmhttp://os2eagle.net/checksum.htm/a

Ted Butler silver commentary archive:

a href=http://www.investmentrarities.com/http://www.investmentrarities.com//a

----------------------------------------------------

COIN AND PRECIOUS METALS DEALERS
WHO HAVE SUPPORTED GATA
AND BEEN RECOMMENDED
BY OUR MEMBERS

Blanchard amp; Co. Inc.
909 Poydras St., Suite 1900
New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
888-413-4653
a href=http://www.blanchardonline.comhttp://www.blanchardonline.com/a

Centennial Precious Metals
Box 460009
Denver, Colorado 80246-0009
1-800-869-5115
a href=http://www.USAGOLD.comhttp://www.USAGOLD.com/a
Michael Kosares, Proprietor
cpm@usagold.com

Colorado Gold
222 South 5th St.
Montrose, Colorado 81401
a href=http://www.ColoradoGold.comhttp://www.ColoradoGold.com/a
Don Stott, Proprietor
1-888-786-8822
Gold@gwe.net

El Dorado Discount Gold
Box 11296
Glendale, Arizona 85316
a href=http://www.eldoradogold.nethttp://www.eldoradogold.net/a
Harvey Gordin, President
Office: 623-434-3322
Mobile: 602-228-8203
harvey@eldoradogold.net

Gold amp; Silver Investments Ltd.
Mespil House
37 Adelaide Rd
Dublin 2
Ireland
#43;353 1 2315260/6
Fax: #43;353 1 2315202
a href=http://www.goldinvestments.orghttp://www.goldinvestments.org/a
info@gold.ie

Investment Rarities Inc.
7850 Metro Parkway
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55425
a href=http://www.gloomdoom.comhttp://www.gloomdoom.com/a
Greg Westgaard, Sales Manager
1-800-328-1860, Ext. 8889
gwestgaard@investmentrarities.com

Kitco
178 West Service Road
Champlain, N.Y. 12919
Toll Free:1-877-775-4826
Fax: 518-298-3457
and
620 Cathcart, Suite 900
Montreal, Quebec H3B 1M1
Canada
Toll-free:1-800-363-7053
Fax: 514-875-6484
a href=http://www.kitco.comhttp://www.kitco.com/a

Lee Certified Coins
P.O. Box 1045
454 Daniel Webster Highway
Merrimack, New Hampshire 03054
a href=http://www.certifiedcoins.comhttp://www.certifiedcoins.com/a
Ed Lee, Proprietor
1-800-835-6000
leecoins@aol.com

Lone Star Silver Exchange
1702 S. Highway 121
Suite 607-111
Lewisville, Texas 75067
214-632-8869
a href=http://www.discountsilverclub.comhttp://www.discountsilverclub.com/a

MRCS CANADA
12303-118 Ave. NW
Edmonton, Alberta T5L 2K2
Canada
a href=http://www.mrcscanada.comhttp://www.mrcscanada.com/a
Michael Riedel, Proprietor
1-877-TRY-MRCS
1-877-879-6727
mrcscanada@shaw.ca

Miles Franklin Ltd.
3015 Ottawa Ave. South
St. Louis Park, Minn. 55416
1-800-822-8080 / 952-929-1129
fax: 952-925-0143
a href=http://www.milesfranklin.comhttp://www.milesfranklin.com/a
Contacts: David Schectman,
Andy Schectman, and Bob Sichel

Missouri Coin Co.
11742 Manchester Road
St. Louis, MO 63131-4614
info@mocoin.com
314-965-9797
1-800-280-9797
a href=http://www.mocoin.comhttp://www.mocoin.com/a

Resource Consultants Inc.
6139 South Rural Road
Suite 103
Tempe, Arizona 85283-2929
Pat Gorman, Proprietor
1-800-494-4149, 480-820-5877
Metalguys@aol.com
a href=http://www.buysilvernow.comhttp://www.buysilvernow.com/a

Swiss America Trading Corp.
15018 North Tatum Blvd.
Phoenix, Arizona 85032
a href=http://www.swissamerica.comhttp://www.swissamerica.com/a
Dr. Fred I. Goldstein, Senior Broker
1-800-BUY-COIN
FiGoldstein@swissamerica.com

The Moneychanger
Box 178
Westpoint, Tennessee 38486
a href=http://www.the-moneychanger.comhttp://www.the-moneychanger.com/a
Franklin Sanders
1-888-218-9226, 931-766-6066

----------------------------------------------------

HOW TO HELP GATA

If you benefit from GATA's dispatches, please
consider making a financial contribution to
GATA. We welcome contributions as follows.

By check:

Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
c/o Chris Powell, Secretary/Treasurer
7 Villa Louisa Road
Manchester, CT 06043-7541
USA

By credit card (MasterCard, Visa, and
Discover) over the Internet:

a href=http://www.gata.org/creditcard.htmlhttp://www.gata.org/creditcard.html/a

By GoldMoney:

a href=http://www.GoldMoney.comhttp://www.GoldMoney.com/a
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
Holding number 50-08-58-L

Donors of $200 or more will receive copies
of quot;The ABCs of Gold Investingquot; by Michael
Kosares, proprietor of Centennial Precious
Metals in Denver, Colorado, and quot;The Coming
Collapse of the Dollarquot; by James Turk and
John Rubino.

GATA is a civil rights and educational
organization under the U.S. Internal Revenue
Code and contributions to it are tax-deductible
in the United States.