Global banks may have been manipulating gold yardstick
False glitter?
The
London gold fix, the benchmark used by miners, jewellers and central
banks to value the metal, may have been manipulated for a decade by the
banks setting it, researchers say.
Unusual trading patterns around 3pm in London, when the so-called afternoon fix is set on a private conference call between five of the biggest gold dealers, are a sign of collusive behaviour and should be investigated, NY University's Stern School of Business professor Rosa Abrantes-Metz and Albert Metz, a managing director at Moody's Investors Service, wrote in a draft research paper.
"The structure of the benchmark is certainly conducive to collusion and manipulation , and the empirical data are consistent with price artificiality," they say in the report, which hasn't yet been submitted for publication . "It is likely that co-operation between participants may be occurring."
The paper is the first to raise the possibility that the five banks overseeing the century-old rate — Barclays Plc, Deutsche Bank AG, Bank of Nova Scotia, HSBC Holdings Plc and Societe Generale SA — may have been actively working together to manipulate the benchmark.
It also adds to pressure on the firms to overhaul the way the rate is calculated. Authorities around the world, already investigating the manipulation of benchmarks from interest rates to foreign exchange, are examining the $20 trillion gold market for signs of wrongdoing. The paper "is not a Moody's research report," Michael Adler, a spokesman for the firm, said.
Officials at London Gold Market Fixing Ltd, the company owned by the banks that administer the rate, referred requests for comment to Societe Generale, which holds the rotating chairmanship of the group. Officials at Barclays , Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Societe Generale declined to comment on the report and the future of the benchmark. Joe Konecny, a spokesman for Bank of Nova Scotia, didn't respond to requests for comment.
The rate-setting ritual dates back to 1919. Dealers in the early years met in a woodpanelled room in Rothschild's office in London and raised little Union Jacks to indicate interest. Now the fix is calculated twice a day on telephone conferences at 10.30am and 3pm London time. The calls usually last 10 minutes, though they can run more than an hour.
Firms declare how many bars of gold they want to buy or sell at the current spot price, based on orders from clients and themselves. The price is increased or reduced until the buy and sell amounts are within 50 bars, or about 620 kg, of each other, at which point the fix is set.
Traders relay shifts in supply and demand to clients during the call and take fresh orders to buy or sell as the price changes, according to the website of London Gold Market Fixing, where the results are published. At 3pm on Friday, the price was $1,332.25 an ounce. The process is unregulated and the five banks can trade gold and its derivatives throughout the call.
Bloomberg News reported in November concerns among traders and economists that the fixing banks and their clients had an unfair advantage because information gleaned from the calls provided an insight into the future direction of prices and banks can bet on spot and derivatives markets during the call. Abrantes-Metz and Metz screened intraday trading in the spot gold market from 2001 to 2013 for sudden, unexplained moves that may indicate illegal behaviour. From 2004, they observed frequent spikes in spot gold prices during the afternoon call.
Unusual trading patterns around 3pm in London, when the so-called afternoon fix is set on a private conference call between five of the biggest gold dealers, are a sign of collusive behaviour and should be investigated, NY University's Stern School of Business professor Rosa Abrantes-Metz and Albert Metz, a managing director at Moody's Investors Service, wrote in a draft research paper.
"The structure of the benchmark is certainly conducive to collusion and manipulation , and the empirical data are consistent with price artificiality," they say in the report, which hasn't yet been submitted for publication . "It is likely that co-operation between participants may be occurring."
The paper is the first to raise the possibility that the five banks overseeing the century-old rate — Barclays Plc, Deutsche Bank AG, Bank of Nova Scotia, HSBC Holdings Plc and Societe Generale SA — may have been actively working together to manipulate the benchmark.
It also adds to pressure on the firms to overhaul the way the rate is calculated. Authorities around the world, already investigating the manipulation of benchmarks from interest rates to foreign exchange, are examining the $20 trillion gold market for signs of wrongdoing. The paper "is not a Moody's research report," Michael Adler, a spokesman for the firm, said.
Officials at London Gold Market Fixing Ltd, the company owned by the banks that administer the rate, referred requests for comment to Societe Generale, which holds the rotating chairmanship of the group. Officials at Barclays , Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Societe Generale declined to comment on the report and the future of the benchmark. Joe Konecny, a spokesman for Bank of Nova Scotia, didn't respond to requests for comment.
The rate-setting ritual dates back to 1919. Dealers in the early years met in a woodpanelled room in Rothschild's office in London and raised little Union Jacks to indicate interest. Now the fix is calculated twice a day on telephone conferences at 10.30am and 3pm London time. The calls usually last 10 minutes, though they can run more than an hour.
Firms declare how many bars of gold they want to buy or sell at the current spot price, based on orders from clients and themselves. The price is increased or reduced until the buy and sell amounts are within 50 bars, or about 620 kg, of each other, at which point the fix is set.
Traders relay shifts in supply and demand to clients during the call and take fresh orders to buy or sell as the price changes, according to the website of London Gold Market Fixing, where the results are published. At 3pm on Friday, the price was $1,332.25 an ounce. The process is unregulated and the five banks can trade gold and its derivatives throughout the call.
Bloomberg News reported in November concerns among traders and economists that the fixing banks and their clients had an unfair advantage because information gleaned from the calls provided an insight into the future direction of prices and banks can bet on spot and derivatives markets during the call. Abrantes-Metz and Metz screened intraday trading in the spot gold market from 2001 to 2013 for sudden, unexplained moves that may indicate illegal behaviour. From 2004, they observed frequent spikes in spot gold prices during the afternoon call.
VIJAY KR YADAV
PGDM SEM-2
SOU- TIMES OF INDIA
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