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Gold/Mining/Energy : Gold Price Monitor -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Giraffe who wrote (45101)	11/16/1999 6:58:00 PM
From: lorne	Respond to of 116959

World price surge dents sale of gold Suresh Shah MUMBAI 16 NOVEMBER THE days of the gold rush seem to be over. The Indian market is becoming price-sensitive and jewellers in the city have experienced the worst-ever Diwali in the past decade. And it's not only jewellers allone, but even the banks which imported gold in anticipation of festival demand, who are left holding high-priced stocks. The demand for gold as well as the import of the precious yellow metal in India, the world's largest market, has declined substantially with the recent sharp surge in the prices. ''From gold imports estimated at 62 tonnes in India during August 1999, imports in September are estimated at 40 tonnes and in October hardly 10-15 tonnes,'' says Paul Walker, director at the London-based Gold Fields Mineral Services. The worst feature of the gold market in India is the lack of hedging facilities which leads to wide price differentials. ''Recently, when the price in the international markets shot up above $300 an ounce and investors wanted to sell their stocks, they were discouraged by jewellers quoting a very wide spread in buy and sale price,'' he said. In the absence of hedging even jewellers would not like to take the price risk, he added. ''The Y2K factor may temporarily support the market, but thereafter selling may flood the market,'' he said. Gold will not stay above $300 an ounce considering the virtual collapse of the physical demand and rise in hedge-selling. Gold touching a recent high of $341 in early October was an ''overshoot'' of the end-September decision by 15 European central banks to cap gold sales to 400 tonnes annually. ''However, even this decision is not indicative of any price recovery considering an average annual sale of 185 tonnes by central banks during the past decade,'' he added. Besides, the overall demand for gold in most markets is not likely to match the increased supply. Most investments made in mining and exploration during the 1996 boom are coming into production. There is increased supply through hedge-selling. Mr Walker conceded that the cash cost of gold in South Africa was higher at around $230 an ounce. The average cost in the western world, however, works out to $199, with the cost in Canada working out to $197 and in the US at $172. ''Next year may witnsess a flattening of production as it is not feasible for the mines to suddenly cut down or stop production,'' Mr Walker said. ''For any recovery or stability in price, at least a 10 per cent reduction in supply is necessary,'' he added. Commenting on the changing role of gold in the economy, Mr Walker said the Asian crisis could have been worse but for the gold holding in those countries. ''But they could have been better if people had the freedom to invest savings in US dollars,'' he said. candidly. People in India or any developing and under-developed country go for gold as they have no access to other instruments. economictimes.com

To: Giraffe who wrote (45101)	11/17/1999 6:39:00 AM
From: long-gone	Respond to of 116959

Prize quote: "hands to shred documents thinking they were covering up potential fire-wall violations. " I find this is "big news". Wednesday November 17, 5:52 am Eastern Time Japan arrests ex-manager of Credit Suisse unit (Adds comment from Credit Suisse in Zurich, 11th para) By Yvonne Chang TOKYO, Nov 17 (Reuters) - In the strongest action taken in relation to a foreign financial firm in Japan, police on Wednesday arrested a former manager of Credit Suisse First Boston's Tokyo unit on suspicion of violating banking laws. Police said Shinji Yamada, former head of the local branch of Credit Suisse Financial Products (CSFP), was arrested on suspicion of obstructing an inspection by financial authorities. It is the first arrest in Japan of an official of a foreign bank for allegedly obstructing inspections by the Financial Supervisory Agency (FSA), the industry watchdog. Separately, the FSA filed criminal complaints against the Japanese units of Credit Suisse Financial Products and Credit Suisse Trust and Banking Co, as well as five officials at the two branches, Kyodo news agency said. FSA regulators had been looking into whether Credit Suisse Group firms in Tokyo were engaged in irregular transactions to help clients conceal losses by bouncing them from one account to another, possibly using derivatives transactions. Yamada is suspected of concealing evidence by shredding documents and instructing employees to ``remain silent' during an inspection in January, according to Japanese media reports. Yamada, who was fired over the scandal in May, faces up to a year in prison or a fine of up to three million yen ($28,300) if convicted. COMPANY DENIES INVOLVEMENT A spokesman in Tokyo for Credit Suisse Group, Switzerland's second-largest international banking group, said it was inappropriate for the company to comment on the arrest. He said the company had nothing to add to statements it made in July, when it said some employees had taken it into their own hands to shred documents thinking they were covering up potential fire-wall violations. It said it had informed Japanese financial regulators of its employees' actions, commissioned a report into the incident and made a public apology to Japan and the FSA in May, and that CSFP was losing its licence. Credit Suisse officials in Zurich had no comment on the arrest. ``The man is a former employee of the group, we have no comment to make,' said a spokeswoman. A senior manager at a U.S. investment bank in Tokyo said the police investigation appeared to be trying to make CSFP a scapegoat. If the police planned to take a strict stance, to be fair they should investigate other foreign institutions as well as Japanese ones that could have been involved in such transactions, he said. The police spokesman declined to say if investigators were trying to charge CSFP itself with systematically obstructing the FSA. If the company was found to have been systematically involved, it could face a fine of up to 200 million yen. ARREST COMES AMID CRACKDOWN The FSA has cracked down on several foreign financial firms since its formation in June 1998 in moves industry officials say underline its resolve to promote transparency in Tokyo markets. Previously, the Finance Ministry had inspected only Japanese banks. Last month, the FSA ordered investment bank Lehman Brothers to improve business practices of securities unit Lehman Brothers Japan Inc after inspections of its Tokyo operations. The FSA ordered the Tokyo branch of U.S. securities firm Cresvale Group to halt operations from November 1 to January 14 after checking claims it gave kickbacks to corporate clients. Minoru Nakano, an analyst at credit research firm Teikoku Databank, said financial authorities had in the past largely turned a blind eye to the behaviour of foreign financial firms' units in Japan, but the FSA moves show the authorities are no longer granting foreign firms special treatment. ``They (foreign firms) are no longer sanctuaries,' he said. ($1=106 yen) (With additional reporting by George Nishiyama) biz.yahoo.com