Mr Peter Foo, CEO, UOB China (front row, right) signed an MOU with Mr Ma Lin, Vice President, SGE (front row, left). The MOU signing was witnessed by Mr Wee Ee Cheong, Deputy Chairman and CEO, UOB (back row, right) and Mr Yu Wenjian, Chairman, SGE (back row, left).

Singapore, 11 November 2024 - UOB has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) in Shanghai. The MOU is a part of the bilateral cooperation initiatives agreed by the People's Bank of China (PBC) and Monetary Authority of Singapore at the 20th Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) meeting1.

China has been the key participant in the global gold market and world's largest producer and importer of gold, and the top manufacturer of gold products. Gold demand in ASEAN has increased significantly in the past few years due to the greater spending power and investors' interest. Under the MOU, both parties will actively respond to the Belt and Road initiative and conduct strategic cooperation in ASEAN gold markets, leveraging the advantage of China's gold supply chain to connect production capacity and demand. This will contribute to the development of the ASEAN gold markets.

Mr Wee Ee Cheong, Deputy Chairman and CEO, UOB, said, "UOB is the leading bank in Southeast Asia operating in the gold business and a member of SGE. With this MOU, we will strengthen cooperation with SGE in proprietary trading, physical delivery and international bullion products. As the only bank offering physical gold products in Singapore, coupled with our extensive ASEAN footprint, UOB is well positioned to connect our customers to gold markets both across the region and within China."

Mr Yu Wenjian, Chairman, SGE said, "This year marks the 10th anniversary of SGE International Board. We will continually deepen internationalization and implementing new business model. We will work together with UOB to further enhance the service system of International Board to better support high-level opening up of China's gold market as the financial infrastructure."

SGE was established in October 2002 by PBC upon approval by State Council. SGE is a financial infrastructure specialized in precious metals trading, and has been the world's largest physical gold exchange for more than ten consecutive years. UOB has been actively involved in SGE trading and initiatives such as Gold Road project and physical gold imports quoted and settled in RMB.

Moving forward, both parties will forge greater cross-border financial collaboration to provide more business opportunities to gold supply chain participants. Under the MOU framework, both parties will deepen gold market cooperation for mutual benefits, enhance connectivity between China and global gold markets, and contribute to the high-quality development of precious metals market in China, Singapore and other ASEAN region.

1JCBC is the apex bilateral platform to review the substantive collaboration between Singapore and China. This year, Singapore convened the 20th JCBC meeting on 11 November 2024, co-chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong and Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council Ding Xuexiang.