As 2022 gets into full swing, LBMA’s attention is firmly focused on increasing Member satisfaction through the implementation of our Strategic Plan for 2022-2024.
As I explained in the Members’ Town Hall webinar on 10 February, our Plan is based on delivering across four key workstreams:
• Responsible Sourcing reflects the increased demand for responsibly sourced bullion and encompasses our sustainability agenda, responsibly sourced Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM), increased engagement with both upstream and downstream actors, as well as initiatives such as our work with International Bullion Centres.
• Physical Market Enhancements highlights the key deliverables in order to maintain the Good Delivery List (GDL) as the leading global standard. This includes our work on the gold integrity ecosystem, developing new Security Features on bars, as well as advancing the development of rules, standards and training.
• Financial Market Enhancements reflects the requirement to increase transparency and represent the interests of the market on issues such as the Net Stable Funding Ratio, as well as undertaking reviews on transparency, clearing and settlement issues.
• Communications and Engagement highlights our intention to be highly accessible and visible within all key markets. An important aspect of this work is to enhance our one-to-one engagement with Members, as well as creating additional Member working groups, webinars and reports.
I am very keen to maintain regular and ongoing dialogue with our Members on the progress we are making against these four key work streams, and the governance and business models needed to support them.
I am very keen to maintain regular and ongoing dialogue with our Members on the progress we are making against these four key work streams, and the governance and business models needed to support them.
This is why I will now be holding quarterly Members’ Town Halls, to keep you up to speed with progress and answer any questions. I would also love to hear your views and opinions by phone, email or even in person as the world is opening up post pandemic. So please reach out to me, the Leadership Team and the Board members, particularly if you think our Strategic Plans are not progressing at either the speed or in direction that you had expected.
A key part of measuring how we are at meeting our strategic goals will be through key metrics, such as Member Satisfaction rates. The feedback from the independent Membership Survey that we commissioned last year has proved very helpful in seeking feedback from Members, Refiners and Subscribers on how LBMA is delivering against its mission.
Overall, the initial feedback is that LBMA is performing well, achieving an overall Member Satisfaction rate of 67%, with 20% of Members saying they are extremely satisfied. However, we noticed that these higher satisfaction rates were given by the banks and trading houses and that lower satisfaction rates were recorded from other categories of our Membership. This is expected given that the banks and trading houses are among the more established sectors of the market and that the Association was originally set up to serve their needs. However, LBMA Membership is a broad church and I am determined to see similar satisfaction rates across all sectors of our Membership, particularly in the less traditional areas such as the Affiliates category.
One of the key objectives underpinning the independent Survey is keeping LBMA accountable. Our objective is not just to hear the good things but also to find out what our Members need more of from LBMA.
One of the key objectives underpinning the independent Survey is keeping LBMA accountable.
I firmly believe that LBMA is an Association for all types of Members, not just a select few, and the Survey is one of several ways in which LBMA is keen to develop an ongoing dialogue with our Membership, such as the current review of the Global Precious Metals Code, the upcoming consultations on the Good Delivery criteria and the work on Gold Bar Integrity.
I would like to thank you all for taking the time to take part in the Member Survey and provide your feedback. The results of the Survey, and ongoing feedback we hope to receive from our Membership, will continue to help shape our Strategic Plans as they are rolled out over the next three years and will also influence how we communicate progress on these plans. So stay tuned and hopefully see you in person at the Summit!
