Market Standards

Vaulting

Vaults provide secure locations for storing gold and silver bars (bullion), and act as gatekeepers to the Loco London Precious Metals Market. They are its custodians.

London is the largest gold trading centre in the world, with some US$60 billion of gold traded each day. Precious metals held in London vaults by custodians underpin the market’s clearing and trading.

Vault holdings data

In excess of 8,000 tonnes of gold and 30,000 tonnes of silver are physically stored in the London vaults. Get the latest figures from LBMA’s monthly vault holdings data.

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Who are the custodians?

There are six custodians offering vaulting services in the Loco London Market. Three of these are clearing members of LBMA:

  • HSBC
  • ICBC Standard Bank
  • JP Morgan

Those clearing members without their own dedicated vault operations use their accounts with one of the other custodians. The other security carriers are LBMA members:

  • Brinks
  • Malca Amit
  • Loomis International (UK) Ltd

The Bank of England also offers a custodian service for gold only. LBMA members and other organisations hold gold custody accounts with the Bank, which reputedly has the second-largest gold vault in the world. We include the Bank’s data on its vault holdings in our monthly data.

Maintaining standards

LBMA clearing members with vaulting facilities also physically check and weigh all the bars that are new to the market, ensuring they meet our strict Good Delivery standards for metal quality.

Although LBMA does not approve or accredit new vaults, we have compiled best practice guidelines for new vaults – as well as for the safe packing, transportation and storage of gold and silver bars.

Some Helpful Best Practice Guidelines and related documents.

Origins of the London Bullion Market

LBMA was established in 1987 by the Bank of England, which at this time was the bullion market's regulator.

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Prices and Data

All the latest LBMA prices and data at your finger tips

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