Sumitomo copper affair
Encyclopedia
Yasuo Hamanaka
is a man who formerly was the chief copper trader at Sumitomo Corporation, one of the largest trading companies in Japan, and was also known as "Mr. Copper" because of his aggressive trading style and "Mr...
, the chief copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
trader of the Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corporation
Sumitomo Corporation
Sumitomo Corporation is one of the largest worldwide trading company , and is a diversified corporation. Sumitomo is headquartered in the Harumi Island Triton Square Office Tower Y in Chūō, Tokyo, Japan...
. Hamanaka had allegedly attempted to corner
Cornering the market
In finance, to corner the market is to get sufficient control of a particular stock, commodity, or other asset to allow the price to be manipulated. Another definition: "To have the greatest market share in a particular industry without having a monopoly...
the entire world's copper market.
Sumitomo lost at least $1.8 billion as a result of what it said were unauthorized trades over a 10-year period by Hamanaka, who was later charged on allegations that he manipulated
Market manipulation
Market manipulation describes a deliberate attempt to interfere with the free and fair operation of the market and create artificial, false or misleading appearances with respect to the price of, or market for, a security, commodity or currency...
the price of the metal, which then lost a third of its value on world markets in less than two months.
The affair was a major scandal which is at times compared in magnitude to the Silver Thursday
Silver Thursday
Silver Thursday was an event that occurred in the silver commodity markets on Thursday, 27 March 1980. A steep fall in silver prices led to panic on commodity and futures exchanges.-Background:...
scandal, involving the Hunt family's attempt to corner the world's silver markets. It currently ranks in the top 5 trading losses in financial history.
See also
- State Reserves Bureau Copper ScandalState Reserves Bureau copper scandalThe State Reserves Bureau Copper Scandal refers to a loss of approximately $200 million by a single trader for the State Reserve Bureau of China at the London Metal Exchange in 2005...
- Silver ThursdaySilver ThursdaySilver Thursday was an event that occurred in the silver commodity markets on Thursday, 27 March 1980. A steep fall in silver prices led to panic on commodity and futures exchanges.-Background:...
- List of trading losses
Sources
- Copper Scandal
- How Copper Came a Cropper
- Tarnished Copper
- May 11, 1998 statement by the CFTCCommodity Futures Trading CommissionThe U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates futures and option markets....
settling the affair - Modern Market Manipulation, a 2003 presentation by Mike Riess