Singapore, 10 May 2010

J.P. Morgan announced today that it will launch in the third quarter of 2010 its first Asia precious metals vaulting facility. Based in Singapore, the initiative underscores the firm's commitment to its leading commodities franchise in Asia, and adds to the bank's long history of vaulting capabilities around the world. The new vault will operate in a tax efficient zone in Singapore, in a facility where state-of-the-art security and confidentiality are guaranteed. The operation of the facility leverages J.P. Morgan’s precious metal trading and vaulting capabilities headquartered in London, where the firm runs one of the largest commercial vaults outside of the Official Banking Sector. The facility will also accommodate the trading of physically settled futures contracts on regional exchanges, regional ETF (exchange traded funds) allocations, as well as physically settled financing transactions in which J.P. Morgan is involved.

Blythe Masters, J.P. Morgan’s head of global commodities, said, “We have seen a strong appetite from both private and institutional investors to diversify the location of their increasing gold holdings. Our decision to launch this vaulting capability in Singapore was supported by the benefits it can provide to our trading counterparties with a facility of this nature.”

Oral Dawe, CEO of Asia Pacific commodities at J.P. Morgan, commented that: “The opening of this facility reinforces the long history and commitment of J.P. Morgan to the precious metals business, and to the Asia-Pacific region, where the demand for world-class commodity trading and risk management continues to grow in line with the region’s natural demand for commodities.”

In addition, J.P. Morgan recently announced its plans to acquire selected RBS Sempra Commodities businesses including: global metals, with Henry Bath base metals warehousing, global oil, and European power and gas assets. The transaction is expected to close later this year, pending regulatory approvals.

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