Türkiye'de Altın Borsası

Abstract

Soy bir maden olan altın, gerek kimyasal özellikleri gerekse de diğer özellikleri (az bulunuşu, inelastik arz yapısı, rezerv aracı olması vb.) sayesinde en eski medeniyetlerden günümüze önemim hep korumuştur. Sahip olana tarih boyunca gerek siyasi gerekse de ekonomik güç ve prestij kazandırmıştır. Perslerin altın parası darik (daric), Bizanslıların iyi altından basılmış parası bezant, ispanyolların yeni dünya Amerika'dan getirdikleri altın varlığı bu milletler için bir siyasi ve ekonomik güç unsuru olmuştur. I. Dünya Savaşına kadar altın standardına dayanan dünya para sistemleri, savaş sonrası dağınık bir durum arzetmiş ve nihayetinde, daha II. Dünya Savaşı resmen sona ermeden 44 ülkenin katılımıyla oluşturulan Bretton Woods sistemiyle yeniden bir altın standardı oluşturulmuştu. Bu sistemde, anlaşmaya taraf olan ülkelerin milli paralan ABD dolarına bağlanırken, ABD doları da 1 ons altın = 35 dolar olarak altına bağlandı. Ayrıca, altının ABD içinde alım-satımı, stoklanması da yasaklandı. Ancak, bu sistem umulduğu gibi yürümedi. ABD'nin 1950'li yılların sonlarından itibaren devamlı ve büyük oranda dış açık vermesi özellikle Londra altın piyasasında altına hücum, dolardan kaçış yaşanmasına neden oldu. Nihayetinde bu sistem fazla yürümedi ve 1973 yılında fiilen sona erdirilerek altın standardı terk edildi ve dünya üzerinde altın ticareti tamamen serbest hale geldi. 1 968 yılında oluşturulan Zürih altın borsası ile Londra altın borsası, spot altın işlemlerinin gerçekleştiği iki önemli merkez halini aldı. Dünya vadeli altın işlemlerinin merkezi New York COMEX'tir. Bu piyasada altın türevli pek çok mali araç alternatif yatırım aracı olarak yatırımcıların ve spekülatörlerin hizmetine sunulmuştur. Bu piyasalardaki işlemler kısa zamanda tüm dünyada yaygınlık kazanmıştır. Türkiye'de de altın üzerindeki kısıtlamalar 1980 yılma kadar sürmüştür. Ancak, 80'li yıllarda uygulanan liberalleşme politikaları sayesinde sermaye piyasalarında serbestleşme çalışmaları hız kazanmıştır. Altın piyasaları da bundan payım almıştır. İlk olarak uygulanan "Türk Lirası Karşılığı Altın Piyasası" bekleneni vermekten uzaktı. Ancak, 1989 yılında uygulanmaya konulan "Döviz Karşılığı Altın Piyasası" sayesinde Türk altın sektörü büyük bir atılım içine girdi. Ancak, çalışmalar bununla da sınırlı kalmayıp İstanbul Altın Borsası bünyesinde ilk olarak 26 Temmuz 1995 'de Spot işlemler Piyasası ve daha sonra 15 Ağustos 1997 'de Vadeli işlemler ve Opsiyon Piyasası resmen faaliyete geçirilerek mevcut altın skoklarının -ki yaklaşık 3500-4000 ton civarında olduğu tahmin ediliyor- ve altın madenciliği sayesinde de mevcut yeraltı kaynaklarının ekonomiye kazandırılması, sektörün finansal sorunlarına çözüm getirilmesi, yatırımcılara ve spekülatörlere altın ve altın türevli alternatif mali araçlar sunulması ve İstanbul'un bir finans merkezi haline getirilmesi hedeflenmiştir.

It is quite obvious to see that gold has been the most important element for people since the very beginnings of organized society when we glance at the history of it. Gold is the single element around which cizilizations have risen or fallen. It has given so important economical and political power to and conferred upon societies when they have possessed it. We may think how gold has its so precious intrinsic value. The first point is its chemical pecularity. Gold is an extremely dense, soft, bright yellow metal. It is the most stable and imperishable of the metallic elements. It is immune to the effects of weather and oxygen. It does not tarnish, rust or corrode. It withstands the attack of most acids and alkalis. It is also, without a doubt, the most easily worked and fabricated of all metals. It has a melting point of 1,064 °C and gravity of 19,3. It is possible to get a wire of 58 km. from 1 ounce gold. By the way, gold is weighed according to the "troy system" of measurement. 1 troy ounce is nearly equal to 31,103 gr. The other points that gold gets its value, in brief, are its inelastic supply structure, limited volume of production, being an instrument of reserve, and not existng another element the same as gold in the world. Archaelogical evidence shows us that gold was probably worked to make jewelry and ornaments before the use of bronze and silver by the earliest Sumerians (B.C. 4000). At the beginning of the Egyptian dynastic period, gold was already in general use in the Nile Valley for artistic purposes (B.C. 3200). Both Sumerians and Egyptians had the highest degree of artistic ability and casting techniques during these periods. Until the system of metallic money, people used common commodities such as leather, horse, ox, horn, shell etc., trading each other as money. Although these common commodities were able to serve as quite useful monies, they were by no means ideal mediums of exchange, let alone reliable and imreshable stores of value. They were not universal things. So, many times these kinds of monies caused so much trouble among people. The general adoption of metals as commodities monies became possible only upon the introduction of practical system of weights and measures. IX When Babylonians invented the steelyard-scale, it gave them the biggest opportunity to develop standart weights. So, Babylonians formed a perfect system of metallic money. Their money system included small ingots of gold, silver and copper. "The shekel of gold" and "the half shekel of silver" became the most common monetary units in this period (B.C. 1925). The second stage in the evolution of gold into money was through the invention of coinage. Lydian Empire established the world's first mint by having the seal of the Lydian Kingdom stamped on it including 75% gold and 25% silver (B.C. 700). The use of coin spread with great rapidty within a few century especially in the Mediterranean Middle-East area. The Persian "gold daric" and then the Macedonian "gold stater" spread in use so much. The Romans had their great economical and political power with "aureus" formed by sound gold. After Romans, Byzantine Empire had its gold money, "solidus (bezant)", that was minted for 800 years, and overwhelmed virtually all economic life of this area. In the second half of 13th century some city-states of Northern Italy minted their gold monies, such as florin, ducat, that were quite reliable. This event was so important for the history of Western Europe. It was because these gold coins brought a period of great commercial success and prosperity to them. From that term, the monetary authorities tried to establish bimetallism system based on both two metals (gold and silver) and ratio between them for next 650 years. The purpose of it was to provide more units of money for general circulation, but it nearly always failed in practice because of the ratio problem of gold and silver. The value of silver always decreased under the level, that was ensured for silver by monetary authorities, in free market. Paper money (goldsmith's receipts or promissory notes) was not appeared until 17th century. The first widely circulated paper money was used by goldsmiths, merchants, and gentlement of wealth acquired the habit of depositing their coin and plate with local goldsmiths, who usually had safe storege facilities for precious metals. These receipts could be easily changed into money by goldsmiths when the owner of receipts wanted real money. In time, the use of these papers spread quickly and became calling "bank-notes". Morever, the goldsmiths was able to create extra bank-notes, much more than what they had gold coin. Creating extra money caused many problems and brought the gold standart and the attemps of forming bimetallism back to Western Europe in 18th century. In 20th century, gold has had different useage in different terms. Until 1930, gold standart was practiced in the world except during World War I, but this system did not work properly after the war. Between 1930-1944 there was a disorder monetary system in the world. But in 1944, 44 countries got togather to establih a new monetary system (Bretton Woods or IMF system). This system was based on a gold standart; 35 USA Dolar was equaled to 1 ounce gold by US of Amrica and other countries had a ratio against USA Dolar. It meant every country had a gold standart. This system continued at 1973 with some problems. In 1973 Bretton Woods (the last attemp of practicing of gold standart) was given up by Europen countries firstly and monetary system has become free. After that, gold has been started trading in spot and future markets without any restraint all over the world. Before giving some information about spot and futures markets, let us mention gold supply and demand in the world. It is guessed that the world has a gold reserve of 1,1 billion ounces. 50% of it is in South Africa, 20% of it is in Rusia. Remaining part is in other countries. Basicly, there are four sources of gold supply. The first and biggest one of gold supply sources is the gold production. After 1970's, the share of gold production in total gold supply declined to 55% even though production has been increased by US of America, Canada, and Australia in 1980's. The biggest reason of decreasing gold production is the supply of scrap gold. Scrap gold (jewelry and gold coin) is the second source of gold supply. Before it is used, it must be refined to make a standart bullion of 24 fineness again. The amount of scrap gold depends on the price of gold in free markets. If the price of gold goes up, the amount of scrap gold supply increases, or if the price of gold goes down, the amount of scrap gold supply decreases. The third one is "Official Sector Sales". One out of third of total gold supply is provided by Cental Banks of countries and IMF (a semi-official agency). The amount of supply of agencies depends on how much foreign currencies they need. The last one is "gold credit". This kind of gold supply did not appear until end of 1980's. Some people or/and companies needing cash money for a short term demand this kind of cedit form banks that have inactive gold reserves. While banks get some interest profit (between l%-3%) form their inactive reserves, companies provide to use inexpensive fund. Although the gold production is limited, it has virtually infinite places of using. But we are mainly able to classify "gold demand in the world" into two groups. The first one is "industrial gold demand". 80% of it is used in jewelry sector. 1 0% of is used in minting of gold coin and medal. The remaining part is mainly used by electronic industry. "Gold demand for investment" is the second group of gold demand in the world. Even though it has a ten-percent share in total demand, it has a pretty strong effect on fixing gold prise. Generally, gold bullions of 100 ounces are traded in the international gold markets. Trading valume of gold in the markets depends on some xi criteria such as interest rates, inflation, economical growth, international political conditions, etc. Now, we can mention about the kinds of gold market in the world. The market for gold consists of a physical (spot) gold market, in which gold bullion or coin is transferred between agents, and a paper gold market (futures market), which involves trading in claims to physical stocks rather than in the stocks themselves. Physical gold is principally traded in the form of bullion, but official and imitation gold coins, medalions, and jewelry are also actively traded. Gold bullion is assumed to refer to gold that has been formed into bars. Each of the major spot markets defines an accaptable measure of weight and fineness. Weights range from 1 kilogram (32,151 troy ounces) to 400 ounces. Gold bars generally consist of between 995 and 999 parts of gold per thousand. Bullion markets generally serve as a conduit between large gold suppliers (such as producers, refiners, and central banks) and small investors and fabricators. Market participans comprise bullion dealers, who act as principals, adopting open positions in the market; brokers, who close their positions by either matching transactions for a commission or simultaneously buying and selling on a spread; and bullion bankers, who finance these transactions. Paper gold market, on the other hand, includes paper gold instruments that represent claims to a specified quantity and fineness of gold. Transactions in these instruments are generally performed for speculative and hedging purposes, and they rarely involve the actual transfer of physical gold. "Gold futures" contracts represent commitments to deliver, on the one hand, and to accept and purchase, on the other, a specified amount of gold at some time during the month for which the contract is defined. Contracts are defined by the relevant exchange. They are usually traded by open outcry, with members of the exchange representing the ultimate buyers (who have assumed long positions) and sellers (who have assumed short positions). Performance is guaranteed by an exchange clearinghouse, which registers the names of the buyer and seller and assumes the opposite side of the trade for both. The clearinghouse receives margin payments from both parties to the contract in order to assure compliance; an original margin is supplemented by a maintenance margin if the price moves against the trader's position. However, both buyer and seller can liquidate their contracts on the exchange at any time up to the delivery date (and usually do so, at least prior to the expiration of the contract at the end of the quoted month). A trader may close out (or exit) a position by making opposite transaction for the same delivery month, and by instructing the broker to offset the earlier contract (trough the clearinghouse). Xll "Gold options" differ from futures contracts, in that the buyer receives the right to exercise the option rather than incurring an obligation to perform-that is, a right to sell or buy physical gold (or a gold futures contract) at a specified price called the strike price (or exercise price). An option is unilateral contingent contract, however, with the writer (or seller) obligated to perform on demand of the holder. The holder of a call option has the right to purchase gold from the option writer, while the holder of a put option has the right to sell gold. "Gold warrants" are essentially gold options (usually a call option) that are secured by the existence or promise of gold stocks and that can be exercised by the holder in a manner similar to a regular option. Gold is traded on a 24-hour basis practically all over the world in physical and futures markets by spot and futures tranactions. After being ended Bretton Woods, gold trading became free, and started being formed many gold markets all over the world. Indeed, before 1973, there were a few old centers of physical gold such as London, Zurich, and Hong Kong. The most important gold market for physical gold trading is the London gold market whose history reaches the second half of 15th century. But it took its importance from the gold that was mined from South Africa (1884). Until 1968, about 80% of gold traded around the world passed trough the London gold market including the gold of South Africa. It is accepted by observers of gold markets that the London gold market has the greatest influence on setting gold price each day. The market has been supervised since 1986 by the Bank of England, in consultation with the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), which was formed in 1987. Good delivery bars must be at least 995 fine and must weigh 400 ounces. Official London market hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The second important center for physical gold trading is the Zurich gold market. The roots of it reach the beginning of 20th century. But it took its real importance when the London gold market was closed for two weeks in 1968. This event gave the three major Swiss banks a big opportunity to form the Zurich Gold Pool and Zurich Gold Bullion Association. New York Commodity Exchange, on the other hand, is the biggest center for futures gold trading in the world. Although the history of futures markets reaches the beginning of 1800, gold was not traded as a commodity good until U.S. restrictions on holding gold were lifted in 1975. 95% of total gold futures trasactions in USA are operated in COMEX. The Singapore Bullion Market developed as a gold deliver center. The market, which was formed in 1969, has no formal organizational structure and no open-outcry meeting place. It is primarily made up of brokers who charge an over- the-counter premium on the price quated (on an overnight basis) by their Europen xiu consignors. Gold bars of many sizes are traded, but the most popular unit is the kilobar (32,151 ounces) of 999 fineness. Tokyo, as another gold trading center in Far East, has grown significantly as a trading center for gold since restriction on imports were lifted in 1973. In addition, the Japan Gold Metal Association was formed in 1979, and the Tokyo Gold Market started operating in 1982. The most important commercial and gold trading center is Hong Kong in Far East. The Hong Kong Gold Market began operation informally in 1910 and has expanded rapidly since January 1974, when government restrictions on the importation of bullion were lifted. It is now the principal distribution and clearing center for the Far East. Furthermore, when New York market has closed and the London and Zurich markets have not yet opened, Hong Kong is the only significant physical gold market available to Middle Eastern and Far Eastern traders. Accordingly, Europe's opening quotations are based on Hong Kong prices. Two types of contracts are traded on the Hong Kong spot markets: Loco- Hong Kong and loco- London. Both operate as undated futures contracts, with all trades made for an unspecified forward date. Up to now we mention about history of gold, gold supply and demand in the world, and types of gold market and main gold markets in the world. It is, I think, high time to say something about gold in Turkey. Gold has a strong place in Turkish tradition. Turkish people hold about 3.500- 4.000 tonnes of gold saving. These are mostly in the form of bracelets, necklaces and coins which are worn around the neck or forehead. Primary motives for holding gold have been saving and security, which is understandable because until very recently there had been no other savings instrument that could provide a hedge against inflation and there was no widespread social security system. Only a small proportion or government employees and some workmen had any social security coverage. Gold has assumed different roles at diffeent stages of economic development in Turkey. After the establishment of the Repuclic in 1924 and until 1960, the government needed to accumulate gold reserves for the Central Bank of Turkey. In this period the government maintained strict control over foreign exchange and foreign trade, and gold trade was largely ignored. From 1960 to 1980 attention focused on the flows of gold in and out of the country. The government's efforts during this period centered on controlling gold smuggling. The law on the "Protection of the Value of Turkish Currency" was enacted to accomplish this. According to this law; the Minister of Finance was authorized to regulate, restrain and prohibit the export of precious stones and products, imports and exports of precious metals and if demand necessary the domestic trade in precious metals. xiv Although the purpose of the governmental decision was to control the smuggling of the gold, it had the result of increasing and institutionalizing these illegal operations. The main role of gold in this period was a medium of exchange. As foreign exchange rates were fixed, gold was the instrument that could provide the flexibility needed in foreign trade. A parallel free market for gold and foreign exchange was developed in Istanbul, which is in the heart of the gold manufacturing district Tahtakale. The era of strict government controls of the market from 1960 to 1980 ended with economic chaos and a military coup. Inflation reached three digit levels, growth rates turned negative and Turkey was unable to fulfil its foreign obligations. On 24 January 1980, the Turkish government announced its liberalization programme to settle free market rules and integrate the country's closed economy with global markets. The cornerstone of the programme was the institution of free market rules in all commodity, foreign exchange and capital markets. These measures had a major impact on the liberalization of the gold trade, which itself was progressively liberalized. The first stage was the liberalization of exchange rates. This in turn required liberalization of gold trade. In addition, some developments in the free gold market in Turkey forced the government to issue new decions in 1983 and 1984, to initiate the liberalization of gold trade. So, the Central Bank of Turkey was quick to responsd to this govermental decision. Before the end of 1984, it had initiated a scheme to import gold and the "Gold Against TL Market" was establihed. This attemp, however, was not successful. There were no organized members in the market. In addition, this market created both price and exchange rate risk. And also the Central Bank of Turkey had no sufficient gold reserves, and increased the price of gold in order to decrease sales. This exercised caused increasing the attractions of gold smuggling. Although all bad sides of this market, it was practiced until 1989. In the same year, the Central Bank of Turkey establihed the "Gold Against Foreign Exchange Market". The central Bank preserved its status as the sole authority able to import unprocessed gold. The transactions were carried out in foreign exchange or foreign banknotes, eliminating foreign exchange risk. The participating institutions (National or foreign banks operating Turkey, Special Finance House and Newly defined Authorized institutions) were required to sell gold to the public against TL., but as the price in the retail market was freely determined this did not create any problems. The new gold market was connected to the world gold markets, with the Central Bank of Turkey acting only as a broker by matching sales and purchases, and not itself maintaining gold positions. Gold bullion and gold bars traded in the market were imported into the country from various supplliers on consignment basis. The liberalization of the gold market narrowed the gap between prices in international markets and Turkey and buying and selling prices in Turkey. In XV addition, imports of gold, which amounted to about 80 tonnes per year before 1989, have increased on an exponential curve since then. Morever, the liberalization of gold and expansion of tourism in Turkey have transformed the country's jewelry sector. The range of jewelry sector of Turkey is 7th in the world right now. One of the gold sector reform elements is the "Istanbul Gold Market". In 1993 the import and export was freed. The Central Bank and other participants of the gold market that are authorized dealers in gold are allowed to import unprocessed gold on declarations, and are not subject to import or export regulations. This decision accelerated the efforts to develop the Istanbul Gold Exchange. In April 1993, the Genaral Regulations on the Establishment and Operating Principles of Precious Metals Exchanges decree was publihed by the Capital Market Board. This lays down the principles for the establishment, organization, regulatory bodies, members, duties, and responsibilities of exchanges established in Turkey. Finally, on July 26 1995, Istanbul Gold Exchange started operating for physical gold trading. And then, on October 18 1996, Istanbul Gold Exchange Futures and Options Markets constitutions were publihed. This markets started opeating on August 15 1997