On Tuesday, 31 March 2026, World Gold Council and LBMA marked the launch of their joint HQLA website, demonstrating that gold meets the High-Quality Liquid Asset (HQLA) criteria under the Basel III framework.
World Gold Council and LBMA are committed to working together for the advancement of gold’s reclassification as a HQLA. Through clear and transparent research, alongside quality data and analysis, they are striving to present gold’s merits as a Level One HQLA.
This advocacy is not simply to benefit the gold industry. The use of gold within the prudential regulatory system could be part of the solution for future adverse financial liquidity events and other forms of systemic risk, as demonstrated during the COVID-19 and the 2023 US banking crisis.
In the 16 years since the liquidity definitions were written, the landscape of global financial markets has changed dramatically – and transparency within the gold market has been significantly enhanced.
It is time to review the uniform definitions and include gold as a HQLA.
If you have any questions, please contact Edel Tully (Director of Financial Services, LBMA) at edel.tully@lbma.org.uk.