"We are pleased to welcome the new direct participants to the gold auction today," Finbarr Hutcheson, the IBA president, was quoted as saying in an organization statement.
Morgan Stanley and Standard Chartered join the Bank of China on Monday as direct participants of the LBMA Gold Price, with additional members expected in coming weeks. The China Construction Bank, according to the announcement, is set to become the group's 11th participant.
"We continue to invest in new technology, surveillance and governance to evolve the benchmarks we administer and bring them into a new era of trust and integrity. These enhancements are encouraging more firms to participate and contribute valuable liquidity to the benchmark setting process."
The IBA and LBMA replaced a nearly 100-year interbank telephone conference system called the London Gold Fix on March 20. IBA sets gold prices, in US dollars, euros and pounds, during two auctions held at 10:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. London time (09:30 and 14:00 GMT) daily.
