DME, the premier international energy futures and commodities exchange in the Middle East, announced today that ABN AMRO Bank N.V. has been approved to issue Letters of Credit (LCs) for trading on DME directly from Singapore. The approval comes after extensive joint efforts to facilitate the trading activities of DME’s and ABN AMRO’s customers in Asia.

ABN AMRO will now be able to issue Letters of Credit directly from Singapore to guarantee deliveries of Oman Blend crude oil through the DME, helping to create a more efficient, cost-effective and reliable trading ecosystem around the Exchange.

Owain Johnson, Managing Director, DME said: “The trading needs of our customers depend on a robust financial platform underpinned by the ability of our banking partners to facilitate the issuance of LCs from Singapore. We are pleased to have ABN AMRO on board and together we look forward to supporting the needs of our expanding customer base in Asia through this latest initiative.”

Friso Koopmans, Managing Director and Global Head of Energy Commodities Clients, ABN AMRO said: “We are delighted to work with DME on this initiative in order to enable our clients across Asia to take advantage of direct issuance of LCs from Singapore. For our clients, the DME Oman contract has a significant role in meeting their risk management needs in the energy market. We are committed to ensuring that clients seeking to trade on DME will now find a more seamless and convenient process for the issuance of LCs.”