Washington (Platts)--16Apr2012/531 pm EDT/2131 GMT
JP Morgan Commodity ETF Services has filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to offer a physically backed, copper exchange traded fund. The commodities division of US investment bank JPMorgan Chase plans to offer 6.18 million shares of the JPM XF Physical Copper Trust at $80.87/share on the NYSE Euronext, according to the filing which was dated April 2. "The objective of the trust is for the value of the shares to reflect, at any given time, the value of copper owned by the trust at that time, less the trust's expenses and liabilities, the filing said. "The price of the shares will fluctuate based on the value of copper held by the trust," JP Morgan said. "There may be conflicts of interest between the shareholders and the sponsor and its affiliates," the bank added. Investment in the shares will be back by copper held in trust by JP Morgan's Henry Bath Group subsidiary. Based in the UK, Henry Bath operates warehousing facilities around the world. The filing marks the second time JP Morgan has planned to offer a copper exchange-traded fund. The first occurred in early October 2010 and was later followed by a similar filings from US asset management firm Blackrock in late October 2010 and ETF Securities in February 2011. --Nick Jonson, nick_jonson@platts.com