Launch of Singapore diamond exchange a wake-up call for Hong Kong
Head of new exchange says it offers first transparent and open price discovery mechanism for diamonds
Diamond may be a girl’s best friend, but they are also an important rising commodity – and one where Hong Kong is now losing out to Singapore in terms of exchange traded business.
The Singapore Diamond Investment Exchange, backed by venture capital firm Vertex Venture – a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore’s state investment firm Temasek – started offering electronic trading of diamonds for its broker members on Thursday.
Alain Vandenborre, executive chairman and founder of the Singapore Diamond Investment Exchange, said the new exchangere represented “a tectonic shift in how diamonds are traded”.
Up until now, diamonds have mainly been traded bilaterally by buyers and sellers, with no international price or transparency.
We should always consider if there is a need for any new markets or new trading system to promote commodities and precious metal trading
“By providing the first ever transparent and open price discovery mechanism for diamonds, the exchange unlocks a major opportunity for investors to trade diamonds as an asset class,” Vandenborre said.
The new diamond exchange is independent of the diamond industry and has regulations to ensure investors and other industry players trading on the electronic platform do so in a transparent way.