Daily Times

The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) said on Friday authorities in ten large trading centres had declared support for its initiative to improve regulation on issues such as money laundering and unethical sourcing of gold. A source familiar with the matter said the United Arab Emirates was one of those that offered support. A UAE government spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The LBMA, the world’s most influential gold market authority, sent a letter last month to twelve trading hubs in eleven countries including China, Switzerland and India. The letter laid out regulatory standards and said the LBMA could stop precious metals refineries it accredits from accepting bullion from places that do not enforce them. Such a blacklisting would block access to the mainstream global bullion market because large banks that dominate gold trading tend to deal in metal only from LBMA-accredited refiners. LBMA rules prohibit refineries from handling gold from unethical sources. The LBMA letter asked recipients to declare their support by Dec. 11 and share an implementation plan by the end of January.