| Article 1 |
These Rules are adopted to maintain orderly trading of Brent Crude Oil Futures Contracts ("the Contracts") on the Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX), to ensure security and fairness in trading of the Contracts.
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| Article 2 |
Futures commission merchants that engage in trading of the Contracts shall observe these Trading Rules in addition to the Futures Trading Act and applicable acts and regulations. Matters on which these Trading Rules are silent shall be handled in accordance with the applicable bylaws and rules, public announcements, and circulars of the TAIFEX.
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| Article 3 |
The Contracts are abbreviated as " Brent Crude Oil Futures " with the ticker symbol "BRF."
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| Article 4 |
The underlying of the Contracts is 200 barrels (31,797.46 liters) of Brent Crude Oil.
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| Article 5 |
Prices of the Contracts shall be quoted in New Taiwan Dollars per barrel. The minimum unit of price fluctuation (tick) shall be TWD 0.5 per barrel, and shall have a value of TWD 100.
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| Article 6 |
Prior to the end of trading of the expiring contract, a futures trader may settle rights and obligations under the Contracts by selling or buying back on the TAIFEX centralized exchange market part or all of the quantity originally bought or sold.
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| Article 7 |
The trading days for the Contracts are the same as those of the TAIFEX. The trading hours for the Contracts are as follows:
- Regular trading session: from 8:45 am to 1:45 pm.
- After-hours trading session: from 3 pm to 5 am of the following day. The expiring contract on the last trading day trades only until 3:30 am. In the event that the expiring contract ends trading during British Summer Time or that ICE Futures Europe is conforming to Daylight Saving Time in the U.S., trading in the expiring contract will end at 2:30 am.
However, if the TAIFEX has made other provisions regarding the trading hours, those provisions shall prevail.
When for any reason ICE Futures Europe announces a halt of trading, or when other factors affect trading of the Contracts, the TAIFEX may announce a halt of trading based on the circumstances, and report the halt to the competent authority for recordation on the next business day.
Trading orders and matching methods following halts of trading and resumption of trading pursuant to the preceding paragraph shall be handled in accordance with Article 2, paragraph 2, and Article 5 of the Taiwan Futures Exchange Corporation Handling Measures in Response to Halts of Trading in Securities Markets.
When other factors affect trading of the Contracts, or in response to a suggestion by a futures industry association or the Federation of Futures Industry Associations, the TAIFEX may change the trading hours for the Contracts after reporting to the competent authority for approval.
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| Article 8 |
The delivery months for the Contracts are spot month, next two calendar months, and next two contract months of June and December, listed and traded concurrently. Trading in the spot month contract ends at 7:30 pm London time on the last trading day of the same spot month of ICE Brent Crude Futures contract. In the event that ICE Futures Europe makes temporary changes to the trading hours because British Summer Time and Daylight Saving Time in the U.S. differ, trading will end at 6:30 pm London time.
The last trading day for ICE Brent Crude Futures contracts as referred in the preceding paragraph is the last business day of the second month preceding the relevant contract month. If the day on which trading is due to cease would be either the business day preceding Christmas Day or the business day preceding New Year's Day, then trading will cease at the end of the next preceding business day. In the event that ICE Futures Europe adjusts the last trading day, the TAIFEX will match that adjustment.
If the end of trading of the expiring contract occurs on a day that is not a scheduled trading day for the TAIFEX's after-hours trading session, or there is no trading due to a force-majeure event, there will be no adjustment to the end of trading of the expiring contract. However the TAIFEX may adjust that date in view of market circumstances.
The first business day following the announcement of the ICE Brent Index price is the final settlement day for a contract at expiry. However the TAIFEX may adjust the date in view of market circumstances.
The contract of new delivery month shall commence trading from the regular trading session following the expiration of the spot month contract.
The TAIFEX may change the delivery months, the last trading days, the final settlement days, and the first trading days of the Contracts as it deems necessary after reporting to and receiving approval from the competent authority.
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| Article 9 |
Orders for buying and selling the Contracts, unless otherwise provided, will be matched automatically by computer.
Matching shall be done by call auction at market opening, followed by continuous trading during market hours.
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| Article 10 |
Open positions held by traders are marked-to-market on a daily basis after the close of the regular trading session based on the daily settlement price published by the TAIFEX.
The daily settlement price as referred in the preceding paragraph shall be set on the basis of the market information from the regular trading session and the following principles:
- The price is the volume-weighted average price of all trades during the last minute before market close.
- When there is no trade price during the last minute before market close on the given day, the average of the highest unexecuted bid and lowest unexecuted ask prices quoted at market close will be taken as the daily settlement price.
- When there is no quoted bid price, the lowest quoted ask price will be taken as the daily settlement price; when there is no quoted ask price, the highest quoted bid price will be taken as the daily settlement price.
- When there is neither a quoted bid price nor a quoted ask price for a distant-month futures contract, then the price difference between the settlement price of the spot-month futures contract and the settlement price of the distant-month futures contract on the previous business day will be used as the basis of calculation, by adding that price difference to the current day's settlement price for the spot-month futures contract to obtain the daily settlement price of the distant-month contract.
- If a daily settlement price cannot be determined on the basis of subparagraphs 1 to 4, or if the settlement price determined on that basis is obviously unreasonable, then the settlement price will be set by the TAIFEX.
The daily settlement price of the expiring contract after the end of its trading shall be determined on the basis of the market information of the last trading session of the expiring contract and subparagraphs 1 to 3. If a daily settlement price cannot be determined on the basis of subparagraphs 1 to 3, or if the settlement price determined on that basis is obviously unreasonable, then the settlement price will be set by the TAIFEX.
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| Article 11 |
With exception of the conditions described in paragraph 2, paragraph 3, paragraph 4 and paragraph 7, the daily price limit of the Contracts is 5 percent above and below the daily settlement price of the preceding regular trading session.
From the market opening to 10 minutes before the market closes, if the transaction price of the nearest-month contract touches the ±5% daily price limit, or the best bid price of the nearest-month contract touches the +5% daily price limit, or the best offer price of the nearest-month contract touches the -5% daily price limit, the daily price limit will expand to ±10% of the daily settlement price of the preceding regular trading session after 10 minutes.
From the daily price limit expanding to ±10% of the daily settlement price of the preceding regular trading session to 10 minutes before the market closes, if the transaction price of the nearest-month contract touches the ±10% daily price limit, or the best bid price of the nearest-month contract touches the +10% daily price limit, or the best offer price of the nearest-month contract touches the -10% daily price limit, the daily price limit will expand to ±20% of the daily settlement price of the preceding regular trading session after 10 minutes.
If the condition referred in the preceding paragraph occurs on the expiring contract in the TAIFEX's after-hours trading session on the last trading day of the same spot month of ICE Brent Crude Futures contract, the ±20% price limit will expand to ±30%.
The closing time of the market as referred in paragraph 2 and 3 for determining whether the daily price limit is triggered or not shall be the latest closing time of all delivery months.
The nearest-month contract as referred in paragraph 2 and 3 shall be replaced by the next nearest-month contract after the end of trading of the expiring contract.
The daily price limit of the regular trading session will be the expanded daily price limit if the conditions described in paragraph 2 or paragraph 3 are met in the previous after-hours trading session.
TAIFEX may adjust the daily price limits of the Contracts described in paragraph 1, paragraph 2, paragraph 3, paragraph 4 and paragraph 7 as it deems necessary based on market conditions.
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| Article 12 |
The final settlement price of the Contracts is based on the ICE Brent Index price announced by ICE Futures Europe for the same spot month of ICE Brent Crude Futures contract after the end of trading on the last trading day. This price will then be converted into TWD by using the latest USD/TWD spot exchange rate at 11 am Taiwan time announced by Taipei Forex Inc. before the end of trading of the expiring contract, and rounded half up to two decimal places.
If for any reason the ICE Brent Index price as referred in the preceding paragraph is not announced, the final settlement price of the Contracts will be determined by the TAIFEX with reference to the settlement prices of Brent Crude Futures contracts listed on other major exchanges. In the event that the USD/TWD spot exchange rate at 11 am as referred in the preceding paragraph is not announced by Taipei Forex Inc., the first USD/TWD spot exchange rate announced by Taipei Forex Inc. after 11 am on the same day will be used. In addition, the TAIFEX may adjust the final settlement price, as referred in the preceding paragraph, in view of market circumstances.
In the event that ICE Futures Europe restates the ICE Brent Index price as referred in paragraph 1, the TAIFEX may adjust the final settlement price accordingly.
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| Article 13 |
The Contracts shall be settled in cash with the trader delivering or receiving the net amount of the price differential in cash on the final settlement day based on the final settlement price.
After the completion of execution procedures for settlement at expiration of the Contracts, if the TAIFEX adjusts the final settlement price in accordance with paragraph 3 of the preceding article, the trader shall deliver or receive the net amount of the price differential in cash based on the adjusted final settlement price.
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| Article 14 |
A futures commission merchant engaging in brokerage trading of the Contracts, prior to accepting an order, shall first collect a sufficient trading margin based on the aggregate total of the brokerage trading order, and from the date of the trade until the expiry of the settlement period, shall mark to market on a daily basis the balance of equity in the positions held by each principal based on the daily settlement price, and credit the aggregate total to the balance of the margin account of the client.
When the balance in a principal's margin account is lower than the required maintenance margin, the futures commission merchant shall immediately notify the principal to deposit cash funds within a specified time frame sufficient to cover the difference between the balance in the margin account and the total amount of the trading margins required for the principal's open positions. If a principal fails to make the deposit within the prescribed time limit, the futures commission merchant may offset the positions on the principal's behalf.
The trading margin and the maintenance margin as referred in the preceding two paragraphs may not be lower than the publicly announced TAIFEX standard for the initial margin and the maintenance margin.
The initial margin and maintenance margin announced by the TAIFEX shall be based on the clearing margin calculated according to the Taiwan Futures Exchange Corporation Methods and Standards for Receipt of Clearing Margins plus a percentage prescribed by the TAIFEX.
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| Article 15 |
The total open positions that a trader holds in the Contracts at any time on either the long or short side of the market may not exceed the limits publicly announced by the TAIFEX.
Every three months, or as occasioned by market conditions, the TAIFEX will announce the applicable position limit standards under the preceding paragraph, according to the levels given below, based on the higher of the daily average trading volume or open interest of the Contracts during that period, with the benchmark set at 5 percent thereof for individuals and 10 percent thereof for institutional investors. However, the lowest position limit shall be 1,000 contracts for individuals, and 3,000 contracts for institutional investors:
- When the benchmark is 1,000 or more contracts, the position limit is the benchmark rounded down to the nearest integral multiple of 200 contracts.
- When the benchmark is 2,000 or more contracts, the position limit is the benchmark rounded down to the nearest integral multiple of 500 contracts.
- When the benchmark is 5,000 or more contracts, the position limit is the benchmark rounded down to the nearest integral multiple of 1,000 contracts.
- When the benchmark is 10,000 or more contracts, the position limit is the benchmark rounded down to the nearest integral multiple of 2,000 contracts.
The position limit for a proprietary trader or a market maker for the Contracts shall be three times the position limit for an institutional investor set out in paragraph 2. The TAIFEX, however, may adjust this limit for market makers for the Contracts as it deems necessary in view of market conditions.
When the TAIFEX examines the applicable position limit levels, if the increase or decrease in the daily average trading volume or open interest for the period, as compared to that at the time of the previous adjustment, does not exceed 2.5 percent, no adjustment will be made even if the level for adjustment has been reached.
Any raising of the position limit will take effect from the regular trading session of the next trading day following the TAIFEX announcement. Any lowering of the position limit will take effect from the regular trading session of the next trading day following the expiration of the next-nearest month contract that is already listed on the announcement date. The TAIFEX, however, may adjust this according to circumstances.
When a position limit is lowered under the preceding paragraph, a position held by a trader prior to the effective date that surpasses the lowered limit may be held until the expiration date of the contract, and no new position may be added until the lowered limit has been complied with.
Total open positions in the Contracts held in an omnibus account are not subject to the limits of paragraph 2, with the exception of undisclosed omnibus accounts, which are subject to the limits for institutional investors.
An institutional investor may apply to the TAIFEX for relaxation of the position limits for hedging purposes.
In addition to the provisions of this article, the limits on open positions in the Contracts held by traders shall also conform to the Taiwan Futures Exchange Corporation Rules Governing Surveillance of Market Positions.
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| Article 16 |
A futures commission merchant engaging in proprietary or brokerage trading of the Contracts shall, unless otherwise provided, be subject to a limit of 100 contracts on the quantity of each trading quote.
The TAIFEX may make adjustments to the limit on the quantity of per order in the preceding paragraph in view of market trading conditions.
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| Article 17 |
Where any circumstance under Article 31 of the Operating Rules of the Taiwan Futures Exchange Corporation requires suspension of trading or delisting of the Contracts, the TAIFEX shall make a public announcement 30 days prior to implementation, with the exception of termination of the ICE Brent Index price licensing agreement, which results in suspension of trading or delisting of the Contracts.
All open positions shall be liquidated by the announced implementation date for the suspension of trading or delisting. Any positions still open on the implementation date will be settled at the settlement price of the trading day preceding the implementation date.
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| Article 18 |
These Rules and any amendments hereto shall be implemented following submission to and approval by the competent authority.
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