New gold benchmark to launch in March

LBMA Gold Price to replace the London Gold Fix

By: James Langton
February 2, 2015 February 2, 2015
11:00

The new gold price benchmark will come into operation in March, according to its new administrator, Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (ICE).

ICE, along with the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), said Monday that the new LBMA Gold Price is expected to be launched in March, with ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) as the administrator of the new pricing mechanism. The new benchmark replaces the traditional London Gold Fix that has served as the gold benchmark since 1919.

In the wake of the LIBOR market manipulation scandal, a number of financial and commodity benchmarks have been overhauled to ensure their credibility, and to reduce their susceptibility to manipulation. The LBMA Gold Price will be regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and it will operate in compliance with principles adopted by global regulators in response to the LIBOR scandal.

Under the IBA, the new benchmark will be derived from a physically settled, electronic and tradable auction; that includes participate in three currencies: the U.S. dollar, the Euro and the British pound. The IBA says that aggregated bids and offers will be updated in real-time with the imbalance calculated and the price updated every 30 seconds.

“Following the LBMA’s announcement in November we have been working closely with the precious metals industry to further enhance the benchmark. We are encouraged by the number of firms who have shown interest in being participants in the new, electronic auction. Expanding the number of participants in the auction will increase the transparency and robustness of the data used to calculate the benchmark, giving a better representation of the market price,” said Finbarr Hutcheson, president of IBA.

Ruth Crowell, CEO of the LBMA said, “I’m delighted to see a high level of interested participants for the March launch. The intention and the interest has been very positive and creates a more diverse pool of participants which includes Chinese banks. We look forward to having enhanced numbers of participants for day one for the LBMA Gold Price”.