GDL Newsletter: Committee and Working Group Highlights

Updated Good Delivery Rules 2026

Watch out for an email next week on the latest changes to Good Delivery Rules, for implementation from Thursday, 1 January 2026.

If you have any questions or would like to be involved in the Rule review in 2026, please reach out to the team at gdl@lbma.org.uk

Refiners Committee

The Refiners Committee continues to be a voice for Refiners. The Committee has met twice since our last newsletter, including an in-person meeting at our Conference in Kyoto. As well as discussing REACH, QR Codes and Good Delivery Rule changes, the Committee looked at the 2026 Workplan, Gold Bar Integrity (GBI), US Tariffs, and the Transparency Roadmap.

US Tariffs

The Board supported the decision to take no action regarding silver tariffs and await the outcome of the Supreme Court ruling (expected early 2026).

Transparency Roadmap

LBMA has committed to accelerating key transparency enhancements for Refiners. Originally slated for 2027, these measures are expected to be incorporated into Refiners’ compliance reports beginning January 2026.

LBMA’s Refiner Transparency Roadmap adopts disclosure requirements aligned with Footnote 59 of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas (OECD Guidance). LBMA will become the first industry scheme to require Refiners to publicly disclose:

• The identity of the Refiner and local exporter in “red flag” locations as per the OECD Guidance;
• All World Gold Council (WGC) miners and mines from which Refiners receive material;
• All locations (countries) from which mine material is sourced.

Following a public consultation, LBMA has published version 3 of the Disclosure Guidance (DG3) to help Refiners implement these requirements. The Roadmap also envisions future disclosures covering supplier identities, sourcing volumes, and all suppliers in high-risk locations.

2026 Work Plan

Some of the areas that the Refiners Committee has highlighted for 2026 include:

• GBI - Periodic Reporting;
• Disclosure Guidance;
• 2026 Sustainability & Responsible Sourcing Summit;
• 2027 Assaying & Refining Conference;
• Silver and issues that effect silver specifically;
• Responsible Sourcing – RGG10;
• New technology - casting/marking/porosity and recycled gold definition and data reporting.

Please do get in touch to raise any concerns or areas of interest you’d like the Refiner’s Committee to tackle in 2026.

Gold Bar Integrity Database

We are extremely pleased that all GDL Refiners have been onboarded to the Gold Bar Integrity (GBI) Database. Members of the Committee agreed to set up a GBI Refiner Validation Group to address periodic reporting and data validation, with a focus on enhancing the system’s capabilities.

Physical Committee

The Physical Committee has continued to address important developments across market infrastructure, responsible sourcing, and Good Delivery standards. The Committee has met three times since the last GDL newsletter and has discussed PAM, Good Delivery applications, QR Codes, and LBMA strategy - providing guidance and challenge as appropriate. GDL Rule changes for 2026 have also been agreed.

Farewell and Welcome

In October, we bid farewell to our Physical Committee Observer, Hannah Garrett from the Bank of England, and welcomed our new Observer Julia Bough, also from the Bank of England.

We look forward to her contributions and working together. Welcome, Julia!

Physical Committee Chair

We would like to take this opportunity to thank outgoing Chair Vikas Chamaria for his leadership and input to this critical LBMA Committee. We wish him the best of luck in his new endeavours!

Paul McKerrell from ICBC Standard was elected as the new Chair of the Physical Committee in November. Following the advertisement of vacancies, we are looking forward to enhancing the Committee further with new members. We have had keen interest from the market for this important Committee.