A new physical wholesale trading platform is ready to go live in March.
Gold/silver can be vaulted at any of 11 locations globally and the platform is open to a wide range of market participants - including producers. So it largely bi-passes the bullion banks who have advantageously acted as primary conduits for so long
It offers an alternative to the opaque LBMA system which is a closed loop system but which has acted as the global PM hub for many decades.
It may take a while to gain traction but, being open 23 hours/day, will offer competition to both the LBMA and the COMEX and should, in time, negate the need for the current London gold fix.
Podcast of an interview with one of the dealers who has joined the new exchange is here: (actual comments about the new exchange are c. 19 mins in)
