TOCOM Energy

Tokyo Commodity Exchange, Inc. (TOCOM) has today approved MUFG Bank, Ltd. as a TOCOM Broker Member. MUFG Bank has also been approved by Japan Securities Clearing Corporation (JSCC) for an Energy Futures Clearing Qualification on the same date.

MUFG Bank will be the 10th Broker Member of TOCOM and the 11th Energy Futures Clearing Member starting from the scheduled Membership acquisition date of September 6, 2024, and will become able to offer services from brokerage to clearing of TOCOM’s Electricity (Power) Futures to both local and global market participants.

MUFG Bank will be the first company to acquire a Broker Member qualification from TOCOM since the merger of Japan Exchange Group, Inc. (JPX) and TOCOM in October 2019.

New Broker Member Overview:
Company Name: MUFG Bank, Ltd.
Scheduled Membership Acquisition Date: Friday, September 6, 2024

【Comments】
MUFG Bank, Ltd.
Hiroyuki Seki, Chief Executive, GLOBAL MARKETS UNIT

As a participant qualification in the energy market from Tokyo Commodity Exchange, Inc., we are very honored and pleased to be able to start a new transaction.

By leveraging MUFG’s creditworthiness, the Bank aims to contribute to the enhancement of price hedging functions in the overall power trading market by increasing trading volume in the power futures market.

MUFG is committed to “Drive Social & Environmental Progress (Sustainable Society)” as one of the three pillars of its Medium-term Business Plan. By entering the power futures and spot markets, improving customer access to exchanges, and building hedging infrastructure for related businesses, MUFG aims to enhance price predictability and hedging functions in Japan’s power trading, diversify services provided by retail electricity businesses, and contribute to the overall development of the power market and stabilization of power supply from generation to wholesale and retail.

Tokyo Commodity Exchange, Inc.
Ishizaki Takashi, Representative Director, President

We are pleased to welcome MUFG Bank to our TOCOM market as a new Broker Member. MUFG’s participation will be the first case of a Japanese mega-bank in the listed commodity futures market in over 70 years since the restructuring of the modern commodity exchanges, as well as the first company to become a Broker Member of TOCOM since the merger of Japan Exchange Group, Inc. and TOCOM in 2019. We expect MUFG Bank’s participation to accelerate liquidity expansion in the TOCOM power futures market, thereby increasing trading opportunities for investors.

“There is an urgent need to develop power futures market under Japan’s Commodity Derivatives Transaction Act,” as the “Working Group on Stimulation of Japan’s Power Futures,” organized by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry since November 2023, pointed out in its abstract, and TOCOM has actively engaged in developing the power market ecosystem. This includes preparing to jointly offer linkage services for spot and futures trading. The expansion of the TOCOM power futures market will provide tools for managing electricity price risks and contribute to supporting stable lives for the public.

We are confident that MUFG Bank’s new participation in the TOCOM power futures Market will further accelerate its growth and advance Japan’s power market ecosystem to a higher level.