And some people wonder if gold is money?

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- U.S.-based clearing house CME Group Inc. (CME) will allow physical gold to be used as collateral for margin requirements on all exchange products, a spokesman said Monday.

The new global policy is effective Oct. 19 in accordance with a member’s notice issued late Friday, said spokesman Jeremy Hughes in London.

Clearing member firms will be allowed to post up to a maximum of $200 million worth of gold as collateral to cover performance bond, or margin, requirements, Hughes said.

The policy was a byproduct of CME’s recent launch of clearing services for over-the-counter London gold spot and forward contracts, he said.

“Many of the [trading] houses hold quite a lot of physical gold and would welcome using it more efficiently,” he said.

The gold will be held at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.’s (JPM) bank in London.

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