Notification of Listing of Cleared OTC London Gold Forwards for Clearing through CME ClearPort®

Effective Sunday, September 20, 2009, for clearing date Monday, September 21, 2009, Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (“CME”) will provide a central clearing service for over-the-counter (OTC) London Gold Forwards.  The Cleared OTC London Gold Forwards contract will be listed by Commodity Exchange, Inc. (“COMEX”) for clearing by CME through CME ClearPort.  Clearing services for house business will commence on September 20, 2009 for clearing date September 21, 2009 with customer segregated activity following within 90 days of commencement. The Cleared OTC London Gold Forwards contract is subject to COMEX and CME rules and regulations.  Its commodity code shall be GB.  Its contract specifications may be found under Chapter 334 in the NYMEX rulebook.

Cleared OTC London Gold Forwards will remain as forward contracts within clearing.  Positions will be held at the original deal price until delivery.  Cleared OTC London Gold Forwards will result in delivery of gold by book-entry transfer via ‘unallocated’ bullion accounts held in London with member banks of London Precious Metals Clearing Ltd.  Such book-entry transfers shall represent holdings of ‘London Good Delivery’ gold, as specified by the London Bullion Market Association.

Delivery may occur on any day that is a business day in both London and New York, as confirmed by the London Bullion Market Association.  The first available delivery date shall be Wednesday, September 23, 2009.  OTC trades may be submitted for clearing with a delivery date up to and including ten years from the ‘spot’ delivery date associated with the current business day.

Transactions will be accepted into clearing with a contract multiple of 100 fine troy ounces of gold.  Transactions will be accepted into clearing with deal prices denominated in US Dollars, with a minimum price increment of $0.001 per fine troy ounce.

Cleared OTC London Gold Forwards will be available for clearing only through CME ClearPort during normal access hours.  Clearing is conducted from 6:00 p.m. Sunday until 5:15 p.m. Friday.  There is a 45-minute halt in access each day between 5:15 p.m. (current clearing date) and 6:00 p.m. (next clearing date).  All times quoted are New York prevailing time.  OTC transactions may only be submitted through CME ClearPort using transaction type OPNT, ‘over-the-counter privately negotiated trade’.

Clearing fees, per 100 fine troy ounces, will be charged with reference to the time to delivery date at the point of submission to clearing.  Clearing fees will be charged according to the following table:

Transactions with a delivery date on the boundary between two fee tiers (eg 1 month) will be charged at the higher rate.

For further information, please contact the Energy and Metals Hotline at 212 299 2301, or CME Group London office at +44 20 7796 7100.