The Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) set a record in exchange-traded funds trading volume in September, with almost $323 million, or a 4% increase over the previous record of $311.3 million set in March 2008.

Volume of 38.2 million shares in September was also 7% higher than the previous record of 35.7 million shares. The total value of ETFs traded on the SGX reached $2.2 billion through the first 9 months of the year, a 277%, or $584 million, increase over the same year 2007 period.

Similar to the domination of a handful of large ETFs in the U.S., such as SPY and QQQQ, the trading and volume increases in Singapore have been driven by a few large ETFs -- iShares MSCI India ETF, Lyxor India ETF (Nifty) and SPDR Gold Shares, no surprise in the case of the latter portfolio, as gold investments have amassed record assets worldwide during  September's market turmoil.

Another notable development behind the recent trading of ETFs in Singapore was the introduction of the first broker-produced ETF portfolio allocation and research reports in July.

At the same time, new ETFs are debuting on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Hong Kong Exchange.

In Tokyo, the first-ever commodities ETF in the market is to launch on Oct. 22, pegged to the S&P GSCI commodities index. While the commodities market has been beaten down in 2008, commodities-based ETFs have been an important part of the long-term ETF asset growth story in the U.S., including the iShares $700 million S&P GSCI ETF (NYSE: GSG). The new commodities ETF in Tokyo will raise the total number of ETFs trading in Japan to 59 portfolios.

In Hong Kong, the biggest Taiwan-listed ETF, and one of the largest ETFs worldwide, is set to list on the Hong Kong Exchange in January. The Polaris Top 50 Tracker Fund tracks the TSEC Taiwan 50 Index, the 50 largest companies in Taiwanese market. The existing Hong Kong-listed ETF ranks among the 25-largest ETFs globally.