International operator of exchanges and clearing houses Intercontinental Exchange Inc (NYSE:ICE) today announced a new addition to the list of participants in the ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) gold auction.
IBA has approved the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to participate in the gold auction, which is used to determine the LBMA Gold Price, effective May 16, 2016.
Since assuming administration of the gold auction, IBA has taken the number of direct participants from four to 13 (including ICBC). IBA has also seen more than a double increase in morning and afternoon gold auction volumes, compared with the five months prior to IBA’s administration.
Finbarr Hutcheson, President, ICE Benchmark Administration, says,
“We welcome ICBC’s participation in the LBMA Gold Price. ICBC brings the total to thirteen direct participants, a quarter of which are Chinese firms. The continued growth and interest of firms to become direct participants demonstrates the global significance of the LBMA Gold Price benchmark and the importance of the auction as the key point of liquidity for physical spot gold.”
IBA operates twice daily, physically settled, electronic and tradable spot gold auctions at 10.30am and 3.00pm UK time. The price formation is in US Dollars (USD). At the end of the auction IBA publishes the benchmark in USD, EUR and GBP.
The LBMA Gold Price is regulated by UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
You can view the official announcement from ICE by clicking here.