Mumbai Exchange Mulls Lifting Synthetics Ban

Mumbai’s Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) is considering allowing synthetic-diamond trading on the exchange premises, its president told Rapaport News.

Some members have asked management to reconsider its 2015 ban on selling lab-grown diamonds anywhere in the BDB’s vast office complex, Anoop Mehta said this week. The bourse will consult with members after the Diwali vacation season, and could call a vote in the first quarter of next year, he added.

“One of the prime reasons [for outlawing lab-grown diamonds] was that detection was a major problem at that time,” Mehta explained. “Detection has come a long way, so we will relook at it.”

Most diamantaires are unlikely to back the change as it would damage their business, according to a trader at a member company, who was not aware that the matter was on the table.

The bourse expects to brief members in informal meetings in December once traders have returned from Diwali, Mehta said. It will also use those events to discuss the issues and ensure voters make an informed decision, he added.

The BDB declared the bourse a “natural-diamond zone” in October 2015, claiming it was the first exchange to do so.

Which exchanges allow trading in laboratory-grown diamonds?

Belgium: Antwerp’s bourses admit companies that trade synthetics, provided that they give full product disclosure.
Dubai: The Dubai Diamond Exchange doesn’t track whether traders are dealing in natural or lab-grown diamonds, but members must comply with its bylaws and make appropriate disclosures.
Hong Kong: The Diamond Federation of Hong Kong, China, does not currently admit lab-grown-diamond companies to its membership.
India: The Bharat Diamond Bourse banned synthetics from the entire complex in 2015, and is now considering requests to change that.
Israel: Members can’t deal in synthetics on the Israel Diamond Exchange trading floor, but the rule doesn’t apply to offices in the bourse building.
US: The Diamond Dealers Club of New York had not confirmed its policy to Rapaport News at press time.
Sources: Bourse and organization spokespeople