On July 15, ICBC official website issued the "Notice on Suspension of Account Gold and Account Silver Business Opening Transactions." ICBC stated that in order to adapt to changes in the market situation and in accordance with relevant agreements, starting from 8:00 on August 15, 2022, Beijing time, the opening transactions of the account gold and account silver business will be suspended, and the opening orders that have been set by customers and have not been completed will be suspended. Automatically invalidated, the closing transactions of customers holding positions and positions will not be affected.
In fact, since November 2020, domestic banks have begun to continuously "increase" control over the higher-risk account precious metal business. According to incomplete statistics, at least six banks have issued announcements this year to adopt various restrictive measures to further tighten personal precious metals trading business.
ICBC will also simultaneously suspend the agency opening transactions of personal precious metals deferred settlement contracts on the Shanghai Gold Exchange.
In addition to increasing the margin ratio, ICBC also announced on July 4 that starting from 9:00 on August 15, 2022, Beijing time, it will suspend the opening transactions of individual precious metal deferred settlement contracts on the Shanghai Gold Exchange and the suspension of individual gold spot transactions. Buying transactions of individual gold spot contracts, closing transactions of deferred delivery contracts on behalf of individuals, and selling transactions of gold spot physical contracts on behalf of individuals will not be affected.
ICBC stated that the uncertainty in the international financial market has increased recently, and it hopes that customers can control risks, arrange investment transactions reasonably, and select opportunities to close positions on behalf of individuals in deferred delivery contracts of precious metals and sell real gold spot contracts on behalf of individuals. control risk.
At least six banks have further tightened their personal precious metals trading business this year.
It is understood that since November 2020, domestic banks have been strengthening control over the higher-risk account precious metals business. First, more than 20 banks successively suspended the opening of new precious metal accounts. Later, the related businesses of existing customers also ushered in adjustments. Restrictive measures included adjusting risk levels, transaction starting points, position limits , suspending opening transactions, and centralized termination of contracts.
Since this year, ICBC, China Construction Bank , Bank of Communications , Everbright , Huaxia , Industrial and other banks have successively introduced measures to further tighten personal precious metal trading business.
On January 4, the Bank of Communications stated in a statement that it would suspend the opening transactions of all trading varieties of the Bank’s book-keeping precious metals business from January 17, and also suspend the opening transactions of the deferred contract varieties of the precious metal agency personal business of the Shanghai Futures Exchange.
On March 18, Everbright Bank announced that starting from April 18, 2022, for customers who have signed an agency contract with the Shanghai Gold Exchange for spot and deferred business and have no positions or transactions in the past six months (retrospective from the date of announcement), The business entrustment relationship with it will be gradually lifted through system adjustments.
On May 12, Hua Xia Bank announced that it will make adjustments to its precious metals trading business on behalf of individual customers, including suspending all channels on behalf of individual customers after the close of trading on May 12th. The Shanghai Gold Exchange precious metals spot position opening and actual spot purchases on behalf of individual customers will be postponed. Entering a transaction, increasing the contract margin ratio, terminating the contract for customers with no positions or transactions, etc.
html On June 2, China Construction Bank announced that starting from 15:30 on June 17, 2022 (Friday), Beijing time, it will suspend new opening transactions of deferred contract varieties of Shanghai Gold Exchange’s personal precious metals trading business, and closing transactions will not be allowed. Affected; buying transactions of spot contract types are suspended, while selling transactions are not affected.html On June 7, Industrial Bank announced that it would adjust its personal precious metal trading business on behalf of the Shanghai Gold Exchange. Starting from the market close at 15:30 on July 15, 2022, individual customers will be closed to open deferred contract positions and spot contract purchases. The entry and exit functions, deferred contract closing and spot contract selling functions will not be affected, and the customer's deposit and withdrawal functions will not be affected. The bank will liquidate individual customer trading accounts that have no transactions, no positions, no inventory, and no debts in the past year and terminate the agency relationship starting from the market close at 15:30 on July 15.The price of precious metals in the international market fluctuates violently, and transaction risks have increased significantly.
The further tightening of personal precious metals business by various banks is closely related to the current violent fluctuations in gold and silver prices in the international market.
Since the second quarter London gold spot price trend
Since the second quarter, the price of precious metals has fluctuated and fallen, and market risks have increased significantly. The market is worried that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates 100 basis points this month, and the economy may enter a recession. On Thursday, the price of international spot gold plummeted by nearly 40 US dollars, once falling below the integer mark of 1,700 US dollars per ounce. On Friday, international gold prices continued their previous weakness and struggled at the $1,700 level. In March this year, the international gold price reached a high of over US$2,070, and has fallen by nearly 18% in four months.
A reporter from Beiqing Daily saw in ICBC Mobile Banking that the central price of gold in ICBC’s RMB account was 370.09 yuan on July 16. Although the decline this year was only 0.52%, it has dropped 13.50% from the high of around 420 in March. The central price of silver in ICBC's RMB account today is 4.054, which has fallen 14% this year. Silver in the account rose to around 5.40 in March, and has fallen 35% in the past four months.
"Recently affected by international factors, the prices of global commodities have fluctuated significantly, and market risks have intensified significantly." The Shanghai Gold Exchange recently issued a notice, asking all member units to increase their awareness of risk prevention and make detailed risk contingency plans. Investors should do a good job in risk prevention, reasonably control positions , and invest rationally. The exchange will take appropriate risk control measures based on market conditions to prevent market risks, maintain market stability, and protect the interests of investors.
The recent announcements issued by various banks have once again reminded investors that the international commodity market is highly uncertain. For customers with position balances, it is recommended to carefully control the size of their positions and pay attention to preventing and controlling their own risks.
Zhou Maohua, an analyst at Everbright Bank's Financial Market Department, believes that some banks have recently tightened their personal precious metal business transactions mainly to prevent potential risks and protect the legitimate rights and interests of investors. At present, the precious metals market is facing a complex environment with increased volatility. For investors, the predictability of the market has decreased and potential risks have increased. In addition, the tightening of personal precious metals trading businesses by financial institutions also releases information to the market that the current relevant market risks are relatively high. .
Supervision strengthens the management of financial derivatives business. Banks’ awareness of compliance is getting higher and higher
An official from a major state-owned bank pointed out that banks have tightened their personal precious metal trading business. In addition to considering transaction risks, legal compliance factors are also important reasons. After the Bank of China "Crude Oil Treasure" risk incident broke out, all banks have strengthened risk control and raised compliance awareness. There are still gaps in relevant laws and regulations for banks to carry out derivatives business. Strengthening risk management and control is very necessary for banks' own risk management and the protection of investors' interests.
It is understood that after the "Crude Oil Treasure" incident in 2020, both regulatory authorities and commercial banks themselves have been extremely cautious about this type of higher-risk transaction business for individual customers. On December 3 last year, the central bank, together with the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, China Securities Regulatory Commission, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Standardized Development of Derivatives Business (Draft for Comment)" (referred to as the "Opinions").
"Opinions" clearly states that each participant trades deferred delivery contracts with physical features for future delivery in specific trading venues, as well as book-entry precious metals, bulk commodities, foreign exchange and other accounts issued by financial institutions that do not involve the actual delivery of the subject matter. Products are managed with reference to this opinion.
The "Opinions" emphasize that financial institutions should adhere to the principle of conducting derivatives business mainly for non-individual investors and strictly implement the review of qualified investor standards. Banking and insurance institutions are not allowed to conduct derivatives transactions directly with individual customers through the counter, and are not allowed to provide trading services for enterprises for the purpose of non-hedging. If other financial institutions really need to provide derivatives trading services to individual customers, they should formulate more prudent participation requirements for individual customers.
Financial derivatives investment has high risks and is not suitable for ordinary people's financial management.
Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, once publicly stated that from the perspective of mature financial markets, institutional investors are mainly involved in financial derivatives investment, which is very unsuitable for personal investment and financial management. The price of financial derivatives fluctuates greatly, which requires high professionalism and risk tolerance of investors. For ordinary individual investors, participating in it is tantamount to gambling in disguise, and the loss is already doomed. Those who speculate in foreign exchange, gold and commodity futures have little chance of making a fortune, just as those who bet that house prices will never fall will eventually pay a heavy price.
Industry insiders pointed out that investment in financial derivatives is very professional and requires investors to have relevant financial knowledge and international vision, as well as strong risk prevention capabilities and risk tolerance. After banks suspend personal precious metals trading, if investors want to continue related transactions, they can seek trading channels and methods through the futures market.
Dong Ximiao, chief researcher of China Merchants Finance , pointed out that if individual investors participate in high-risk investments such as foreign exchange products, commodity futures, and financial derivatives, they should pay attention to changes in the international financial market in a timely manner and appropriately adjust their investment positions according to their own risk tolerance. Effectively prevent investment risks. At the same time, we should also fully realize that the prices of precious metals, including gold, do not only rise but never fall, nor are they a permanent hedging tool.
Text/Beijing Youth Daily Reporter Cheng Jie
Editor/Fan Hongwei
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