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To: Dwight Taylor who wrote (5856)	1/14/1998 5:36:00 PM
From: lorne	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 116764

Search Home 500-kg moorat: SBI flags off its gold trading show Santosh Menon ------------------------------------------------------------------------ MUMBAI 14 JANUARY EVEN as the banking industry is waiting for the State Bank of India (SBI) to unveil its gold trading operations, the public sector banking giant has silently gone ahead and imported nearly 500 kg of the yellow metal under open general licence (OGL) from a few select centres. With this, the bank has kicked off its whole trading operations involving the yellow metal. Senior officials in the bank told The Economic Times that the imports were on consignment basis on behalf of leading jewellers across the country. The bank hopes to tie up another 200 kg during this month in Mumbai alone and is waiting for the international supplies of gold in ten tola denominations to pick up. All the imports have been contracted from the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) with whom SBI has a long-standing relationship. In addition to UBS, the bank is exploring strategic alliances with a host of leading international supplier banks including Rothschild, Republican Bank of New York, Societe Generale and the Swiss Banking Corporation for imports on a regular basis. To begin with, for a few months, the imports will be done on a consignment basis to be sold wholesale to jewellers. ''This will be the first phase of our operations. The second stage, which will include retail sales of the metal through our branches, will be kicked off after April,'' a senior SBI official pointed out. For this operation, SBI may consider taking a position on its books. In the meantime, the bank plans to extend its gold trading operations to seven major gold consuming centres across the country. While most of the initial demand has come from centres such as Mumbai, Ernakulam and New Delhi, the bank plans to extend it to Ahmedabad, Calcutta and Bangalore soon. ''The infrastructure, including storage vaults, computer terminals indicating prices etc have to be put in place,'' one SBI official said. As of now, the bank's earnings are essentially on two fronts - in arranging the foreign exchange for its customers and the commission that it receives on the gold sold. SBI is targeting a major component of the gold imports - both through official and unofficial channels - estimated to over 500 tonnes every year. The advantage that it has over other banks who have been permitted to import the yellow metal into the country is that it has handled gold in the past. In fact, SBI and MMTC have been for long the only canalising agencies for gold imports into the country. ''We have been offering gold replenishment for jewellery exporters for nearly 20 years now. Most of the jewellers have been our clients for a very long time,'' a senior SBI official said.

To: Dwight Taylor who wrote (5856)	7/17/2000 2:46:46 PM
From: long-gone	Respond to of 116764

Monday, 17 July, 2000, 10:19 GMT 11:19 UK Diamond traders call for controls The industry fears negative publicity will affect sales By Michael Voss Leading representatives of the world's diamond trade are beginning a three-day meeting in the Belgian city of Antwerp amid increasing pressure to reform the industry. The bi-annual meeting of the World Diamond Congress comes as calls intensify on producers and traders to tighten controls on the illicit diamond trade which is funding civil wars in African countries such as Sierra Leone and Angola. The Canadian ambassador to the United Nations, Robert Fowler, and Britain's Foreign Office minister Peter Hain will both be addressing the Congress to urge the industry to find ways of stopping illicit diamonds funding these wars. The meeting brings together delegates from all (cont) news.bbc.co.uk