UK: London silver fix bites the dust

The London global silver benchmark is reportedly set to stop operations this August as global scrutiny mounts over allegations of price-fixing in the gold, silver and other metals markets.

The London Silver Market Fixing Ltd., which runs the benchmark-setting process, announced the news Wednesday, and set that the current benchmark setters, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Bank of Nova Scotia, will continue operations until August 14.

Deutsche Bank had originally planned to resign from its seats on the gold and silver fix at the end of April but will reportedly delay that resignation until August 14.

The German lender decided to exit the process as the bank and others on the gold fix panel face lawsuits that claim the banks colluded to manipulate the benchmark rates and therefore fix gold prices.

While the lawsuits are focused on the gold fix, reports say the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission probed the silver fix following similar manipulation claims, though the investigation found no conclusive evidence of such wrongdoing.

The future of the gold and silver fixing process is now in question.

Full content: Reuters

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