Singapore – LAWFUEL – Law News Network -The Singapore office of international law firm Clifford Chance has advised State Street Global Advisors (State Street) on Asia’s first gold exchange traded fund (ETF), streetTRACKS® Gold Trust, which listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) on Wednesday 11 October. State Street is an affiliate of the marketing agent for the ETF, State Street Global Markets, LLC.
Ho Han Ming, head of Clifford Chance Wong’s Funds practice in Singapore, who advised State Street, commented, “We are very pleased to be involved in another ground-breaking transaction for the local funds industry. This is especially significant for the Singapore market as it represents the first commodity-based collective investment scheme to be listed on the SGX. SGX is also the first Asian stock exchange on which the ETF has been listed outside of New York.”
First launched in New York in 2004, streetTRACKS® Gold Trust was the first ever US commodity-based ETF and is today the largest and most liquid gold-backed equity in the world. The logistics and transaction costs of buying, storing and insuring gold have been a barrier to entry for some institutional and retail investors, particularly in Singapore. streetTRACKS® Gold Shares are intended to overcome some of these obstacles and make investing in the gold asset class a more accessible process.
streetTRACKS® Gold Trust, which is sponsored by World Gold Trust Services LLC, tracks the price of gold and trades like any stock on the exchange. streetTRACKS® Gold Shares are backed by physically allocated gold bullion and are denominated in US dollars. Investors can buy as little as one board of ten shares, with each share priced at approximately one-tenth of the spot price for an ounce of gold.
The Clifford Chance Wong team was led by Ho Han Ming, together with associate Josephine Law.
