Annual Report 2022

CEO's Report

Now that we are one year into our three-year strategy, I’m delighted to report that this last year has been packed full of achievements.

One of our key strategic goals for 2022 was improving accessibility, and we have found more and more ways to engage with you this year. We launched our Introduction to Responsible Sourcing course, which has already proved extremely popular, and we look forward to seeing more members attend the in-person courses to network and provide their thoughts on the topic.

Connecting with so many of our Members and Affiliates during LBMA roadshows, quarterly CEO Town Halls, Tea with Ruth and our webinars has been an excellent opportunity to hear your views on the direction of LBMA. Your feedback is crucial to ensure that we advance market standards for the common good of the global industry.

I'm grateful for all the engagement to date and looking forward to more in 2023.

WE ARE ACTIVELY LOOKING TO IMPROVE THE SATISFACTION OF OUR MEMBERS AND ALL INDUSTRY STAKEHOLDERS, AND WE WANT TO HEAR HOW WE CAN CONTINUE TO DEVELOP SOLUTIONS TO BETTER SERVE THE COMMON GOOD OF THE GLOBAL INDUSTRY.

Improving Standards & Member Satisfaction

As part of our new strategic plan, we made Member Satisfaction a key measure of our success. The independent survey conducted last year resulted in a 67% Member Satisfaction rate. Following that feedback, we developed an Engagement and Member Services strategy to improve the work we do for you, the Membership. We set an improved 2022 target of 70% as well as introduced annual surveys for Membership and Good Delivery applicants to ensure that the processes are fair, transparent and timely.

I’m pleased to report that the overall satisfaction rate has risen from 67% in 2021 to 85% in 2022. And most importantly, we had a significant increase in the number of respondents willing to directly share their suggestions and feedback. These surveys, now annual, offer Members, Refiners and other key stakeholders an ongoing opportunity for meaningful dialogue on current work as well as a say in the future direction of LBMA. It is also an opportunity for LBMA to hold itself accountable, and ensure the highest levels of leadership, integrity and transparency for the industry.

As part of our wider industry engagement, this year, we consulted on two important LBMA standards: the Global Precious Metals Code, and the Good Delivery List Rules – our first public consultation and the most comprehensive review yet of this standard. High levels of engagement in both consultations have resulted in strengthened standards that are fit for the current environment.

Following last year’s launch of version 9, the next chapter of the Responsible Gold Guidance, we have worked to support the industry’s implementation of this standard. This included improving guidance materials for public disclosure as well as assurance providers. We have also formally embedded Sustainability into our overall strategy, given the rising importance of ESG. As part of this, we launched our ASM Task Force at the Conference in Lisbon, where we called for industry leaders to support the 40.5 million miners around the world as part of their own ESG engagement strategies. Surely those miners represent the S or 'Social' in ESG for the gold industry and need our support.

Looking Forward to 2023

As we enter the second phase of our three-year strategy, we will be further increasing transparency and market confidence through the progression of the digital Gold Bar Integrity (GBI) database. We are delighted to be working with the World Gold Council and the entire global value chain on this important initiative. Thank you to the many, many industry participants who took part in the 2022 pilots and who have committed to the work ahead of us in 2023. GBI aims to add integrity to the gold bars themselves by creating and deploying a digital gold ecosystem which support the transparency, efficiency and most importantly, integrity of the global industry.

The launch of the Sustainability and Responsible Sourcing strategy will help shape the priorities over the coming years, including improving industry disclosure on ESG, stopping the decline of ASM sourcing and advancing common standards through the next version of the Responsible Silver Guidance.

LBMA will also continue to focus on Financial Market Enhancements, creating an action plan aimed at increasing the understanding of Loco-London liquidity market for regulators as well as potential return to the gold IRS market.

Join us for another exciting year ahead as we work together to improve our global industry. I hope to see you at the Conference in Barcelona if not for Virtual Tea well before then!


Ruth Crowell