The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM), a commodity futures exchange, and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), a stock market and futures market operator, announced this Monday that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

The signing of the MOU will see the two exchange operators cooperating on a number of fronts. Today’s agreement was signed by Li Gang, Co-Head of Market Development at HKEX, and Ryoichi Seki, TOCOM’s General Manager of Global Business Development Department.

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As a result of the MOU, the two exchange operators will start to increase their level of information exchange. On top of this, there will be staff exchanges between the two firms’ offices.

Building new products together in the future

Most interesting of all, the two exchange operators will be working together on product development. Hamada stated that the goal of this is to “develop the precious metals market in both countries.”

Alongside the development of new products, the two firms will be working together on joint promotion efforts. Whether these efforts will be confined to the promotion of the products that have been developed together is unclear.

Li discussed the new agreement saying: “The signing of the MOU marks the start of a partnership with great potential. HKEX is dedicated to offering a wide range of asset classes and helping to increase China’s influence on global commodity pricing, while TOCOM has many years of experience in the commodity industry. Through the enhancement of communication and cooperation, both sides will benefit from the further development in their commodity business.”