At the start of May, the Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX) made various announcements. Firstly, an announcement was made declaring that it had received a permit from the Israel Securities Authority (ISA), enabling qualified Israeli corporations who trade on proprietary basis to become members of the DGCX and to use its trading services and platforms. Israeli members will also then have access to act as market makers on the DGCX platform. Secondly, the DGCX announced that during the month of March, it registered a monthly Average Open Interest (AOI) of 191,974 contracts.
The move with ISA allows the DGCX Group to introduce its diversified global products and services, including Futures and Options Contracts that cover precious metals, energy, equities and currency sectors – within Israel – as it continues to expand its role as the leading Middle East exchange for the trading of derivatives.
Les Male, CEO of DGCX, said: “The strengthening of ties and opening up of markets between the UAE and Israel represents an incredibly exciting moment in the DGCX story and the wider GCC region, as we continue to expand internationally by providing investors and market participants with products and services that are highly innovative and that add true value. We are delighted to be able to welcome Israeli investors and market participants to a global community of over 100 members from around the world.”
On 13 August 2020, the UAE and Israel issued a historic joint peace treaty that normalised relations between them. The new situation provides enormous trade and business opportunities for investors and businesses in the UAE and Israel.
“The landmark development of the Abraham Accords provides a springboard for the Israeli community to come to Dubai and invest, opportunities for our new Israeli member base to hedge risk, and to invest in secure and safe assets during times of uncertainty. Our contracts have already opened a door for international traders by providing offshore access to specific regional markets, especially India, one of the world’s largest bullion-trading hubs. We look forward to opening doors for traders from Israel,” Male added.
The Exchange announced that it traded 12.73 million contracts in 2020, and recorded a yearly AOI of 220,504 contracts in 2020.
Disclosure: “The permit holder’s operations are not subject to the supervision of the Israel Securities Authority. This permit does not constitute an opinion regarding the quality of the services rendered by the permit holder or the risks that such services entail.”
AOI registered for 191,974 contracts
Once again, the DGCX Group’s best performing product segment was precious metals, with its Silver Futures Contract recording a year-to-date (Y-T-D) volume growth of 209% compared to the same period last year. Additionally, the DGCX’s flagship Shari’ah Compliant Spot Gold Contract recorded a year-on-year (Y-O-Y) Average Daily Volume (ADV) growth of 151% during March.
Les Male said: “During the first quarter of 2021, we recorded sustained interest in our Silver Futures Contract, largely driven by market participants’ desire to safeguard their risk and turn to reputed safe havens such as Silver and Gold. Another prevailing trend was a rising interest for products that comply with Islamic principles, as exhibited by the strong performance of our Shari’ah Compliant Spot Gold Contract in March. Subject to further conditions and market feedback, we are currently exploring opportunities to expand our metals portfolio with more contracts that adhere to Islamic principles – such as a Shari’ah based Silver Futures Contract.”
On March 8th, the DGCX as a signatory to the Women’s Empowerment Principals (WEP), honoured International Women’s Day with a Bell Ringing ceremony for Gender Equality. The DGCX Group joined more than 86 exchange houses around the globe for the 7th annual Ring the Bell for Gender Equality ceremony; an initiative held in partnership between the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) and Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE), as well as UN Women, UN Global Compact, Women in ETFs and the International Finance Corporation.
