Nanotechnology Now - Press Release: Integrated Nano-Science and Commodity Exchange (INSCX exchange)

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Abstract:
Launched in Europe and the United States in late November 2010, INSCX™ (the Integrated Nano-Science & Commodity Exchange) is a commodity exchange established to physically trade accredited, compliant and validated nanomaterials and nano-enabled products, as well as traditional commodities (grains, metals, minerals and products). INSCX is based in the United Kingdom and has satellite operations in the United States and Asia. The exchange's electronic trading platform can be accessed using the logon link provided on the exchange website at www.inscx.com

by Charles McGovern
CEO, INSCX, Staffordshire, United Kingdom

Integrated Nano-Science and Commodity Exchange (INSCX exchange)

UK | Posted on December 13th, 2010

The exchange is the focal point of the emerging world trade in nanomaterials, a trade that will be crucial to continuing world prosperity in the 21st century. The opening of INSCX means that, for the first time, nanomaterials will be traded in the same way as other goods, i.e., purchasers are assured of quality and competitive prices, while suppliers are provided with surety of demand and the financial tools and trade flexibilities needed to respond.

What Will be Listed for Trade?

INSCX lists formal contracts for physical delivery under the following material categories:

* Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) Accredited nanomaterials;
* (Interim) Accredited nanomaterials;
* Advanced materials;
* Specialities;
* Commodities (nano-enabled, metals, fuels, polymers, products);
* Commodities (minerals/metals, polymers);
* Commodities (agricultural); and
* Commodities (softs).

Nanomaterials, nano-enabled and advanced materials are referred to as Thematic Class Materials (TCMs), while more traditional materials and source materials (grains, metals, oils, gasses, etc.) will be classed under the common headings of Hard and Soft Commodities. Nano-enabled commodities or products are defined as items as varied as enabled fuels, fertilizers, cement, polymers, and other semi-finished "products" which can be used to further a commercial process.

Why Are We Here?

INSCX places nanomaterials on a par with existing established materials and commodities through provision of cost-effective tools to enable organic growth. We recognise and endorse the potential nanomaterials hold for whole sections of the existing raw materials base of the global economy from metals to grains, polymers, paints & coatings to enabling advances in environmental treatments, computing and medical fields. However, despite the undoubted potential we firmly appreciate the nanomaterials industry must be equipped with the essential market tools to overcome familiar obstacles faced by any emerging and established industry. These obstacles often have included capital limitations, lack of generally agreed upon material specifications, pricing and trade fragmentation, volume, safety uncertainties and the limited availability of development capital and input necessary from the insurance and financial investment community to forge commercial fluidity.

INSCX exchange in large part follows the historical support legacy of commodity exchanges established in the 19th century for metals, grains and oils, sectors which faced similar obstacles to progress by providing the nanomaterials industry with the same tools used now and then to increase the commercial usefulness of raw materials. To progress with clarity and cohesion the potential offered by nanomaterials must be made a practical option for existing and new business, not merely a euphoria remaining within the realm of science and research or the subject of novel applications however imaginative. We remain conscious of the fact that in a commercial context whole sections of the potential afforded by nanotechnology remain commercially unviable despite almost a decade of pushing the technology and encourage the nanotechnology community to recognise what it must do and in fact can do to alter this situation.

Nanomaterials must be transformed to deliver itself as a multi-disciplinary process of alternative manufacturing enabling compliment to existing and the emergence of new industrial and commercial activities. The exchange process acts to help transform potential to commercial reality while remaining a proof of concept to support continued investment in Research & Development in nanotechnology. INSCX exchange will act as a catalyst to enable nanotechnology to expand its commercial audience and it follows increase demand for and corresponding supply-capacity to meet that demand for exchange standard nanomaterials.

Nanotechnology must do more than claim a commercial potential; it must prove it. Delivering this proof rests at the very core of the rationale driving INSCX exchange.

These are among the fundamental purposes of a commodity exchange; to prove potential as fact, to drive agreement between competing interest to encourage and deliver capital support to both sides of the demand/supply equation. We all in nanotechnology should reflect on the fact the very origins of modern commodity exchanges were primarily commercial as opposed to the perception now of exchanges as the sole remit of financial industry participants. We remain fully disposed to the original traditions of the exchange first formed by the merchants, farmers, metals foundries and users of raw materials seeking more efficient trade processes capable of meeting increased societal demand for metals, foodstuffs, products and other semi-finished essentials.

These commercial as opposed to financial origins remain with us today and underline the distinct difference between a commodity exchange and a financial market exchange such as a stock exchange where the letter owes its origins as a means to raise capital through the enticement of investment for return or speculative gain.

Expertise

INSCX exchange is the fruit of almost four years of interaction between established experts in nanoscience and the professional securities and commodity industry. Backed and supported by NanoCentral® www.nanocentral.eu the supervisory body of the exchange list representation from this trade alliance of providers in nanoscience and persons associated with leading institutes at the forefront of developing nanotechnologies and Tier one commodity brokerage and investment houses. Individual Board members are profiled on the exchange website: www.inscx.com and act to advise, ensure compliance with exchange rules and help guide the development of the exchange as a support to emerging nanotechnology business. The Board also acts a focal point of expert contact should official regulators and existing business require clarifications.

Supporting Suppliers and Promoting Growth

INSCX will provide supplier access to trade finance and develop uptake of nanomaterials, while promoting nanomaterial SHE via accreditation to standards devised by AssuredNano®. The overall objective is to enable both commerce and society to benefit from nanomaterials trading, while ensuring observance of quality standards, agreed material specifications and trading integrity. The exchange will also introduce a means to trace nanomaterials from source through the supply-chain to end product using the sequencing of the unique trade reference ID generated at the point of raw nanomaterials procurement via the exchange.

Assurances to Buyers

Purchasers of nanomaterials will benefit from generally agreed material specifications, price transparency and guaranteed supply. They will also be fully insured against unforeseen commercial and/or political difficulty. In addition all supplied materials will be independently inspected to assure quality using contracted materials measurement and characterisation agents Intertek Plc who are one of the world's most respected agencies in the specialist field of nanomaterials. Intertek are longstanding in the physical inspection of traditional commodities also. This introduces a key commercial standards feature to the supply of nanomaterials and meets with standard practices observed elsewhere in the supply of raw materials.

What is Needed?

In order to develop, the nanomaterials industry needs to have:

1. Commercial Usefulness. The nanomaterials industry must be encouraged to accept that potential alone is not enough to develop and sustain commercial success for the nanomaterials industry. It can be argued quite convincingly that success in any materials sector is dependant on hard work, thrift and the deliverance of clarity to potential downstream users in a manner that makes a practical use of or materials more feasible and attractive in commercial and consumer terms. The assumption that nanomaterials owing to their unique qualities and characteristics, are somehow more special than traditional materials should not be permitted to detract from the industry accepting their status as raw materials in a commercial context. Nanomaterials must be presented as a commercially practical option.

2. Customer Perception. Nanomaterials suppliers are required to explain exactly why industry and the consumer should favor greater use of nanomaterials as a benefit over existing materials. Mere appeals or statements suggesting use as fact supported by appeals to futurism or complex scientific language in the absence of an impartial examination of social and economic realities are of no benefit to the nanomaterials industry going forward. The industry should also resist continuing marketing attempts to portray nanotechnology in general as something capable of delivering a better product or a brand of reinvigorated chemistry or mere novel products however useful. Rather, the marketing strategy citing novel application merely serves to limit a wider appreciation of the cross disciplinary industrial and commercial significance of the generic platform.

3. Confidence. INSCX exchange encourage the nanomaterials industry to use the exchange process as a tool to approach the challenge of sustained commercialisation on a sector-by-sector basis, with an absolute confidence in its ability to work collectively to develop a means to deliver the potential. Being a relatively small and emerging industry is in itself no reason to lack confidence or fear lack of capital resource as insurmountable obstacles. The commodity exchange process provided the essential catalyst for the first industrial revolution uniting the competing interests of buyer/seller, investor/insurer and regulator in the forum of the open, transparent and neutral market. INSCX exchange now offers a similar, impartial catalyst to the nanomaterials industry.

4. Standards. The nanomaterials industry can use the exchange process as a means to develop agreed-upon material standards and uniformity in specification, greater appreciation of specific application and observance of trade practice in the supply and trade of existing and emerging materials. These remain key requirements expected by potential buyers seeking to allocate use of nanomaterials through the supply-chain to end product, application or object. As regards to new materials, it is not the purpose of INSCX exchange to predetermine or limit what should or can be listed for structured trade on the open market, as indeed the initial material offering on launch of the exchange identifies only a straw poll of raw nanomaterials and nano-enabled commodities where there is an evidence of current commercial traction. The number of exchange-listed materials will be constantly added as more are developed.

5. Regulation. It is suggested by INSCX that the nanomaterials community needs to adopt a proactive stance toward regulation, moving to work hand-in-glove with official regulatory agencies to devise practical frameworks as opposed to continuing the evident "wait-and-see" approach. The industry can move quite quickly and effectively to embrace the concept of self-regulation through using the commodity exchange process as other material sectors have done successfully in the past. This will introduce the economic checks and balances which in turn dovetail with ongoing official efforts to regulate in essence by industry consent. The move would signal to official regulators, insurers and potential consumers of nano-enabled applications and products a factual as opposed to aspirational willingness on the part of the nanomaterials industry to do some of the "heavy-lifting" in the context of regulation.

6. Trade Practices. The nanomaterials industry should work to dovetail with the commercial practices of the buyer community particularly in the case of material application in the sectors of metals, agriculture, construction, rubber, polymers, energy to name but a few. The reason relates to the fundamental role the very existence of commodity exchanges plays out daily in enabling the efficient commercial interaction of these sectors particularly in the allocation and procurement of the various raw material inputs needed to drive these sectors. For example, an auto manufacturer requiring steel or aluminum is long accustomed to using the mechanic of the open market to "price-in" the use of various raw materials where trade is executed efficiently in observance of defined and assured standards. The use of Spot and Forward trade types for example enabled using the exchange process has been used in industry in the context of essential raw materials allocation since 1851. It should also be noted by emerging nanomaterials suppliers the very fact the commodity exchange process acted as the original "financial" catalyst to drive growth in what were once very small, fragmented suppliers struggling to gain commercial traction. The market process engendered via the commodity exchange process enabled suppliers regardless of size to compete. Even today across establish supply bases the exchange process continues to act as a source of supplier capital, a capital source used originally to develop critical mass in supply capacity to levels required by industrial users. INSCX exchange enables nanomaterials suppliers and industrial-scale buyer to avail of similar supports and efficiencies.

7. Traceability and Insurance. All INSCX exchange "bargains", trades in other words, are offered to supply and purchasing interest with or without full commercial insurance at the discretion of participants covering standard commercial, political and financial risks of non-performance by either party to the trade in question. While these are norms long accepted by global trade practices, the issue of insurance in the context of nanomaterials relates also to the much wider matter of safety. While recent calls suggesting that nanomaterials are unsafe or hazardous or should be banned clearly reflects impartial bias and lack of any appreciation that society and commerce already use a plethora of proven hazardous substances within defined parameters, the nanotechnology community must work to take the issue of safety very seriously. The issue cannot be assumed the sole responsibility of official regulation agencies for societal safety is a commercial as well as an ethical necessity. A defined commercial structure must be offered by the nanomaterials business community in order to enable insurers to engage. In this respect what is required is an effective commercial traceability and proof of valuation as support to toxicological assessment.

8. Responsibility. Nanomaterials suppliers do have a key part to play in helping establish exactly what is being used, to what specification and recommended application at source raw nanomaterial and downstream use stages. A collective recognition of this responsibility would greatly aid regulators and in turn guide nano-enabled product manufacturers and insurers to identify key risk cut-offs. Furthermore collective responsibility would drive a wider consumer confidence in nano-enabled end applications and products much more effectively than any "top-down" official regulatory approach. It is simply not good enough for consumers, potential business users and society at large to assume commercial opportunity affords any industry small or large the right to ignore its responsibility to deliver an effective series of standards, both in a trade and environmental context. When we in the nanomaterials community point up the reasons why business and society needs nanomaterials or nanotechnology the onus rests with us as an industry, and us alone to justify the issue of safety.

Official regulation agencies are not commercially orientated but despite this, act quite rightly act to balance societal considerations first and foremost. Instead of complaining that regulators "do not know what they are doing in nanotechnology" the industry of nanomaterials has to prove that it does know what it is doing both commercially and in terms of safety. There are very clear legal responsibilities to consider in addition to the ethical argument. Selling anything that is eventually proven unsafe invites corporate litigation that can, and has collapsed whole industries in the past. In simple terms we, the collective nanomaterials industry, "stand on the soap-box" and the audience in terms of potential and safety is the industrial and consumer user in addition to the official regulator. We need to self-regulate and ask official regulators to rally in support of the self-regulatory template through enactment of legislation.

The fact nanomaterials suppliers can congregate to use the commodity exchange process to deliver into being this self-regulatory mechanism is apparent to most outside industrial observers. The application of the open market process has acted throughout economic history to balance the competing interest of buyer and seller, and short of reinventing the wheel, nanotechnology will not for the foreseeable future of many generations change that basic economic organisation of society. The market is the constant, technology the variable held subject to the constant. Those leaning to endorse futurism in nanotechnology over impartial logic of current real-world analysis may disagree but whatever can be debated one fact remains; Any industry that puts something up for sale that is subsequently proven unsafe will be sued in law. Where blame incurring financial penalty rests in the context of nanomaterials without a defined commercial structure from source material to end product effectively places every single supplier of an "unsafe" material in the firing line as it were. The blame game in corporate litigation always works in reverse from product to source. That applies equally to any supplier or user of nanomaterials regardless of that constituting a university, research centre or a commercial concern. The emerging nanomaterials community must therefore appreciate the risk fragmentation and lack of a defined commercial structure imposes in terms of risk, commercial and societal and use the exchange process to its advantage and commercial necessity as opposed to continuing a path that will inevitably lead to problems as the industry progresses.

9. Multiple Supply Capacity. The practice of sustained commercial uptake in a raw material is dependent on proven potential, transparency in price, safety and the availability of multiple, as opposed to singular, sources of supply. Part of the difficulty in nanomaterials relates to some extent to a perception in the industry that single supply sources inventing new materials today will somehow acquire monopoly supply status, despite ample evidence that global trade and the entire apparatus of the legal system supporting commercial activity remains firmly disposed to prevent the emergence of monopolies. The matter of securing adequate levels of capital resource also mitigates against the emergence of any supply monopoly, as a monopoly is not regarded as a sound commercial proposition to any lender. Within a commodity exchange context, "cornering" the market is a practice long outlawed. There will undoubtedly be success stories in nanotechnology, but nanomaterials suppliers will need to develop multiple supply capacity to meet rising levels of demand if not to actually encourage the emergence of demand and capital support in the first instance. The business world needs to be convinced of this before any definitive capital reallocation in favor of nanomaterials occurs, and without capital reallocation, demand for nanomaterials will arise very slowly if at all. Suppliers of nanomaterials therefore, need some method to be able to act in syndication to develop a critical supply-capacity mass, and again this is a core function of the commodity exchange.

The exchange proposed by INSCX will be where an inventor of a particular process of nanomaterials manufacture can use an exchange contract to build in a proprietary intellectual property royalty where, on the occasion of a supply requirement beyond an individual supplier, capacity can be met from multiple sources of supply. The "inventing" supplier can opt to act alone, competing on price using exchange trade finance to upscale or receive an income on the occasion when demand is met by multiple sources of supply.

10. Strategic Planning. Nanomaterials are being marketed on the basis of undoubted potential, but the marketing strategy can prove much more effective balancing into the equation a methodology designed to enable a wider appreciation of commercial prudence or strategic planning. What if something goes wrong? What measures are nanomaterials suppliers and users putting in place now to not only safeguard society, but also ensure their own commercial continuity? Safety by definition is a key selling point just as much as an appeal to potential is as indeed are measures to demonstrate an ability to swiftly implement a contingency plan in the event an unforeseen risk emerges in the future. All these measures if put in place now can act to inspire confidence in the target audience for nanomaterials suppliers; the downstream users and end buyers of nano-enabled goods and devices. INSCX exchange for its part can and will deliver key supports toward that end.

For example, the open market process will in itself ensure any material proven or suspected unsafe commands a lesser price value reflecting these limitations, in turn reducing a willingness to supply it in the first instance. The market process will also guide nanomaterials suppliers to identify a true economic worth, aiding business planning allocations while also enabling capital supports to price in the provision of the lending or capital supports. Equally, the matter of traceability back to source, a focus for regulators and insurers can be provided using the trade bargain number generated by the exchange at the point of any initial raw nanomaterial trade. This unique trade-specific number or reference can simply be carried forward at each stage of the supply chain sequence with reverse audit disclosure enabled to regulators on the occasion a proof of societal risk emerges from use of an exchange-listed nanomaterial. The ability to reference also stands to help insurers identify key-risk cut-off points, empowering the litigation process to target the exact location of fault. Granted, while proven risk will by definition adversely affect a nanomaterial's price in the open market, possibly leading to suspension of trade, INSCX exchange has announced the imposition of a contingency premium to be levied on all exchange bargains where accumulated funds can be provided as an incentive to global insurers to underwrite risk on the balance of probabilities which suggest already that many nanomaterials are not unsafe. This "insurance" would indemnify or compensate in-the-trade interest at the point of any ordered suspension of trade activity where the global nature of the exchange process stands capable to rise above any national, regional or local regulatory emphasis as all members regardless of domicile will be bound to observe exchange rules. At worst, contingency funds could be allocated by the exchange itself to participants in the trade affected by the formal suspension of trade. The measure will help ensure nanomaterials suppliers hold the capital resource to adapt to change in demand from one material to another, and not face the threat any move by official regulators to ban a given material equates to a business collapse for the supplier/s concerned. The beauty of the suggested mechanic is that for no cost nanomaterials suppliers can quickly introduce these flexibilities simply by using the exchange process.

11. Price Insurance. INSCX exchange will enable supply and purchasing interest in nanomaterials to avail of price insurance by way of employing the common exchange technique of hedging; buying or selling today materials to be supplied or required in the future. The ability to "hedge" price volatility risk is fundamental to developing a wider commercial usefulness for nanomaterials, and the launch of INSCX exchange will provide the ability to trade these materials on a Cash and/or Forward basis. In an historical context "hedging" owes its commercial origins not to Wall Street but to corn farmers and trade merchants agreeing in 1851 to employ the technique to overcome incident of adverse volatility in grain supply availability and price levels caused in the main by seasonal factors. The fact major commodities and resources such as oil, metals, electricity, rubber and gasses have long since employed the technique of hedging in the trade relates to the fact that these sectors have long regarded "price insurance" as necessary to overcome bottlenecks in the supply-chain sequence to end product or application, and hedging is a primary purpose of any commodity exchange.

12. Avoiding Obstacles. It should be noted that several sectors, in failing to employ the commodity exchange hedging technique enabling price insurance in the allocation/supply process, face an abundance of commercial difficulties. The polymer and carbon black sectors in particular face ongoing dilemmas where inability to manage financial and supply risk has lent itself to a situation where intense price volatility has become unmanageable for many parts of the supply chain. Producers attempting to pass on rising prices are meeting resistance, as the converters themselves are typically under pressure from consumers to maintain previously agreed prices. This means that converters (downstream users) are increasingly ‘squeezed' in the middle, and supply chains, rather than the suppliers, are competing. While the plastics and carbon black industry supply chains grapple with these issues, the emergence of new world economies, such as China, and their demand for industrial raw materials is fundamentally changing the global balance of supply and demand. With these new market conditions, and with no indication of when they will end, plastics, chemicals and carbon black are among sectors desperately requiring a long-term solution to the problem of price volatility. These problems hold clear lessons for nanomaterials suppliers. Should the sector fail to incorporate the ability to hedge allocations it too stands to encounter similar supply-chain problems going forward.

13. Capital Availability. INSCX exchange will enable suppliers of nanomaterials to access sources of trade finance to upscale capacity to supply rising demand, as all purchases are to be fully funded in advance by the exchange process, with payment released to the relevant supplier/s following independent inspection establishing the quality of supplied materials. Even today the global metals markets, dominated by the London Metal Exchange (LME) and CME in Chicago, operate in a manner whereby an LME contract note or warrant confirming a purchase issued to a supplier at the point of trade is universally accepted by financial institutions as a bearer document providing proof of collateral for the purpose of trade finance lending. INSCX exchange will enable a similar support to flow into the hands of nanomaterials suppliers, where exchange contracts will be accepted as collateral, effectively removing lack of capital resource as an obstacle to progress.

14. Proof of Concept. Nanomaterials need to prove their economic worth by providing factual evidence of trade and valuation for individual nanomaterials. These essential proofs of concept will in turn empower the global investment and insurance community to effectively price nanomaterials. The commodity exchange process does this effectively for the world's primary raw materials; INSCX will achieve this for nanomaterials, placing them on a par with norms expected by the insurance and investment community, both essential to drive sustained growth.

15. Direct Route to Market. INSCX provides suppliers of nanomaterials with the most direct route to market, enabling revenue growth. The most important strategic relationship any emerging nanomaterials supplier should cultivate is with INSCX exchange and their nominated broker, who is effectively the nanomaterials supplier's salesforce and materials planning advisor.

16. Safeguard Intellectual Property (IP). INSCX provides a method whereby proprietary IP pertaining to emerging nanomaterials can be safeguarded, thus ensuring that any trade of a research-grade material listed by the exchange will result in an agreed-upon royalty being reimbursed to the rightful owner of the relevant IP. This facility permits nanomaterial suppliers to use natural market forces to develop commercial traction in an emerging material as opposed to having to fund being reliant on capital resource development of a market for any new material.

17. Have Trade Integrity. Both suppliers and potential buyers of nanomaterials need cast-iron assurances on trade integrity. Suppliers need to know they will get paid, while buyers need assurance they will pay for materials that are of proven quality, delivered on the date agreed. INSCX will function to guarantee trade integrity using a Central Clearing System (CCS), managed by regulated and internationally respected commodity settlement agents who are independent of both the exchange and any member broker of the exchange. The entire movement of any funds committed to an INSCX trade will be controlled under the legal principal of escrow. In regards to material quality, all materials that are to be supplied via INSCX will be settled subject to independent inspection conducted by IntertekMSG, part of the worldwide materials inspection and measurement agency, Intertek Plc. Suppliers are guaranteed payment in full when they use the exchange process for any supplied material that is Certified Good Quality (CGQ) by Intertek. Buyers will in turn know as an absolute the materials purchased are proven of the listed standard, another key selling point for any exchange-approved supplier.

Why Get Involved?

There are many reasons why nanomaterial suppliers and purchasers should get involved with INSCX.

1. Trading Standards - INSCX offers the ability to provide potential buyers of nanomaterials with the very same standards they demand of existing materials, namely price transparency, quality/supply assurance, commercial insurance and trade flexibility, including the ability to procure materials on a cash forward basis. The exchange affords recognition to suppliers as approved and registered Exchange suppliers of nanomaterials guaranteeing through the exchange process their financial and material integrity in addition to the observance of other essentials regarded as base requirements for any industrial user of raw materials.

2. Health and Safety Standards - INSCX exchange offers nanomaterial suppliers and downstream users of nanomaterials the ability to use the exchange process to become Nanomaterials (SHE) accredited without undue financial burden. Through agreements with the scheme's global provider, any supplier or downstream user of nanomaterials may graduate toward full SHE accreditation without having to commit initial capital.

3. Regulation - INSCX exchange is a process to deliver self-regulation within nanomaterials, providing regulatory bodies with a working template on which to base potential legislation. Participation means in effect the creation of an industry voice to communicate with official bodies.

4. Market Development - INSCX will provide a true assessment of the economic value of nanomaterials, enabling the global investment community to value nanomaterials as a collective industry based on factual evidence of trade flows.

How to Get Involved

INSCX is open to any supplier and/or downstream user of nanomaterials, source/advanced materials, nano-enabled and more traditional commodities domiciled anywhere across the globe. The procedure to get involved is simple. First, register with INSCX exchange. The registration process can be completed online at:

www.comdaq.net/comdaqnet.asp?calledsite=INSCX

Registration applications are followed up by the exchange where a modest Commercial User annual membership fee is charged and issues of compliance addressed. Once a registration is approved this enables access to other exchange services and of course retail access to view the live electronic trade platform for placing formal trade instructions.

To actually place a trade registered users are invited to open a Commercial Trade Account with an approved member firm or broker of the exchange. These brokers act to guarantee the financial integrity of the trade process while enabling buyers and seller to conduct their affairs anonymously, an important feature of business where suppliers and buyers are in competition. Brokers are also there to advise as to how to use the exchange to procure and/or supply materials.

Costs of Trade

INSCX exchange acts to deliver a cost-efficient means to supply and/or procure materials based on an obligation to ensure best price or execution for any customer. Customers see the price at where materials are bought and sold via the open electronic platform. Brokers themselves who conduct the trade act to place orders in accordance with customer instructions, advising where appropriate and for completed trades are permitted to levy a commission which is capped at 1.5% of the transaction consideration reducing for considerations in excess of USD$250,000. Total trade costs including clearing, accreditation, contingency and brokerage are under no circumstances permitted in accordance with exchange rules reach beyond 5% of the nominal transaction consideration. Any additional charges relate to services provided to the exchange by approved third-party vendors such as inspection, insurance, warehousing and so forth in line with cost-competitive practices observed by the world's leading traditional commodity exchanges. For any trade you make using INSCX exchange Trade costs (clearing, contract lot turn, broker commissions, insurance, inspection and accreditation) on INSCX are competitive with those levied by the world's major commodity markets.

Open Market

A commodity exchange is an open market where any organisation or individual who agrees to abide by exchange rules can participate. It is the direct opposite of an unfair trade practice. A member, rule bound commodity exchange imposes only agreed rules on its members. INSCX exchange will no more "control" the nanomaterials industry than the Chicago Mercantile Exchange "controls" the suppliers and buyers of the hundreds of material asset classes it lists for trade. The exchange is a commercial interface, a tool to be used by buyers, sellers, investors and other aspects of the infrastructure of global trade. We have launched this exchange with every confidence the emerging supply and purchasing interest in nanomaterials will come to regard INSCX exchange for what it is; namely their marketplace where they can congregate freely to advance the commercialisation of the raw materials base underpinning nano-science and nanotechnology.

(Editor's note: this article first appeared in Paint and Coatings Industry online magazine - www.pcimag.com - and is reprinted here with permission.)

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About INSCX exchange
Integrated Nano-Science & Commodity Exchange (INSCX exchange) is a formal commodity exchange trading platform devoted to the structured physical trade of a wide range of Thematic Class Materials (TCMs) including nanomaterials, advanced materials, nano-enabled commodities/composites and more traditional commodities such as metals, grains, products and oils. All physical-delivery material contracts listed on the exchange are sourced (SHE) accredited, compliant and supplied validated and insured. Commodities listed for trade by us range from basic raw nanomaterials (NMs) such as carbons, metal oxides, specialty chemical solids, traditional commodities and high-end, processed goods such as photonics and programmable matter. The exchange is based in the UK operating live trading access within Europe and North America with full global rollout to be made available by 2011. INSCX aims to be the global focal point of emerging trade in nanomaterials, a trade which will be crucial to continuing world prosperity in the 21st century. The deliverable of INSCX is an electronic/voice-brokered commodity trading platform enabling price discovery, trade integrity and conformity to agreed material standards, while providing supports for suppliers and purchasers to enhance the commercial usefulness of nanomaterials. Building on centuries of exchange heritage, INSCX serves the risk management and commercial trading needs of global customers particular to the manufacture, use, application and exchange of engineered nanomaterials, advanced materials and nano-enabled commodities. We are the worlds only source of benchmark cash and forward contracts in alternative commodities covering all eleven Thematic Classes available on any exchange.

Our vision provides the market infrastructure to enable these commodities realise their potential as the alternative, precision engineered materials of the future.

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