LBMA News

Launch of LBMA's 2020 Annual Review

We’re excited to report that we will be shortly launching our 2020 Annual Review. It’s slightly later than normal, for which we apologise, but it will highlight the work that we have been involved with, as the standard-setting organisation for the global precious metals market, since the last review was published in July 2019.

LBMA Members

We currently have 147 Member Companies – consisting of 12 Market-Making Members, 78 Full Members and 57 Affiliate Members.

LBMA is delighted to announce Helveticor AG as a new Full Member. Helveticor AG is a Swiss-based valuables logistics company. Its core business activities relating to the bullion market include the transportation and storage of precious metals.

LBMA is also pleased to announce DRW Investments, LLC as a Full Member. DRW, which formed in 1996 and is headquartered in Chicago, is a global trading organisation focused on identifying and capturing opportunities by leveraging technology, research and risk management. DRW is an active participant in the bullion market and trades in both the physical and derivatives markets.

In mid-October, the voting Members of the LBMA approved changes to the Articles of Association. These changes include the creation of a new Affiliate Member category, replacing the former Associate and Exchange Affiliate classifications. Initially, the former Associate and Exchange Affiliate classifications will be reassigned as Affiliate Members. The changes to the Articles will introduce a range of exciting new benefits and opportunities for Affiliates, as well as enhancing the benefits afforded to Full and Market- Making Members.

The LBMA Executive Team is currently contacting Members to explain how the changes to the membership classifications will affect them.

If you are interested in applying for membership of LBMA, including the new Subscriber category, please email: mail@lbma.org.uk.

International Bullion Centres Initiative

LBMA is committed to advancing standards and ensuring that responsible supply chains are established and maintained. To further this objective, we have recently developed recommendations for International Bullion Centres to adopt and support the OECD Due Diligence Guidance framework and recognise the key findings from the Financial Action Task Force.

These recommendations focus on the following strategic priorities: (a) responsible sourcing of recycled gold, (b) eliminating cash transactions and (c) support for Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM). For further details and for information on how you can support our initiative, please refer to our website.

Latest Staff News - Introducing LBMA’s New Head of Comms

LBMA is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Edel Tully as Head of Communications. Edel brings with her a wealth of precious metals market experience, as the former Global Head of Precious Metals Sales for UBS. Prior to that, she was Head of Precious Metals Strategy at UBS with responsibility for forecasting and publishing research on the precious metals complex.

Prior to joining UBS in January 2010, Edel was Head of Precious Metals Research at Mitsui and Co. Precious Metals Inc., a role she held from 2006 to 2010. Edel has a PhD from Trinity College Dublin (2006), awarded for her thesis ‘A Tripartite Investigation of the Gold Market: Pricing Influences, Intraday Patterns and Daily Seasonality’, and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Studies from the University of Limerick (2002).

Accredited Refiners

We now have 104 refiners on the Good Delivery Lists, with 70 listed for gold, 83 listed for silver and 49 refiners on both lists. There are currently three active Good Delivery applications.

Gold and Silver held in London Vaults

On 1 September, LBMA, the Bank of England and the commercial vaults (Brink’s, HSBC, ICBC Standard Bank, JP Morgan, Loomis and Malca Amit) announced that, in future, the gold and silver holdings of the vaults in London would be published with a one-month lag. These holdings provide an important insight into London’s durability and reinforce the underlying strength of the physical over-the-counter (OTC) market.

As at the end of September 2020, there were a record 9,069 tonnes of gold, valued at $550.2 billion held in London vaults. This was the fifth consecutive monthly increase in the amount of gold held in London. There were also 33,508 tonnes of silver, valued at $25.6 billion held in London vaults. This equates to approximately 725,517 gold bars and 1,116,925 silver bars.

Digging for Gold in Scotland

Scotland is preparing to open its first gold mine. The Cononish mine, near Tyndrum in the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park, is due to start production before the end of November.

Scotgold Resources is aiming to produce 23,500 troy ounces of gold on average per year and believes it can recover more than 176,000 ounces in total – worth £255 million at current prices.

The area sits on a rich geological belt containing gold, which runs all the way from Scandinavia to Canada, across Scotland and Northern Ireland. The mine and the processing plant have been designed to have a minimal impact on the national park in which they are located.