Ronan Manly

Central Bank & Governments and their gold coin holdings

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• Ronan Manly
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Within the world of central bank and government gold reserves, there is often an assumption that these gold holdings consist entirely of gold bullion bars. While this is true in some cases, it is not the fully story because many central banks and governments, such as the US, France, Italy, Switzerland, the UK and Venezuela, … Continue Reading

Apples and Oranges: An update on LBMA Refinery Statistics and GFMS

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• Ronan Manly
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Last year I published two posts featuring the 2013 refinery production statistics of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) Good Delivery Refiners (gold and silver). The first post, “Moving the goalposts….The LBMA’s shifting stance on gold refinery production statistics“, looked primarily at how, in May 2015, the LBMA had first published a 2013 gold refining output... Continue Reading

Spotlight on LPMCL: London Precious Metals Clearing Limited

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• Ronan Manly
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Within the last 2 months, there have been a series of developments in the London Gold Market, each of which has involved Chinese-controlled banking group ICBC Standard Bank Plc. On 4 April, the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) announced that ICBC Standard Bank had been reclassified as a LBMA Market Making member for the OTC spot … Continue Reading

LPPM – The London Platinum and Palladium Market

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• Ronan Manly
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The platinum and palladium markets arguably receive more focus during the third week of May than at any other time of the year. This is due to a series of events hosted in London known as London Platinum Week. London Platinum Week, which also covers other platinum group metals such as palladium, is coordinated by … Continue Reading

Lars Schall Matterhorn Interview with Ronan Manly, April 2016

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• Ronan Manly
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I was recently interviewed by financial journalist Lars Schall on behalf of Swiss based Matterhorn Asset Management. Our interview covered the German and Russian gold markets, Venezuela’s official gold reserves, the secrecy of the London gold market, and the outlook for the gold price, among a number of other topics. Matterhorn kindly granted me permission to … Continue Reading

Shanghai Gold Benchmark Price - New Kid on the Block

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• Ronan Manly
• 4 Comments

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Exactly 19 months to the day after the International Board of the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) held its first full trading session on 19 September 2014, the Shanghai Gold Exchange launched the Shanghai Gold Benchmark Price auction on 19 April 2016. In China, the number 19 is very auspicious since it consists of lucky number … Continue Reading

HSBC’s London Gold Vault: Is this Gold’s Secret Hiding Place?

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• Ronan Manly
• 2 Comments

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HSBC’s main gold vault in London regularly comes under the media spotlight for a number of reasons. These reasons include: a) the HSBC London vault stores a very large amount of gold on behalf of gold-backed Exchange Traded Funds, primarily the well-known SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) b) along with the Bank of England vaults and … Continue Reading

Deutsche Bank agrees to settle with Plaintiffs in London Silver Fixing litigation

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• Ronan Manly
• 1 Comments

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In a surprising development, a group of plaintiffs in an antitrust litigation case against Deutsche Bank, HSBC Bank plc, the Bank of Nova Scotia, and UBS AG, have just announced that Deutsche Bank is in the process of negotiating the formal terms of a settlement agreement with the plaintiffs. Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Scotia are the … Continue Reading

The Gold Vaults of Hong Hong: Brinks, Loomis, Malca Amit and G4S

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• Ronan Manly
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The article “From Good Delivery bars to Kilobars – The Swiss Refineries, the GFMS data, and the LBMA" examined the mountain of evidence concerning the known Swiss conversion of Good Delivery bars into kilobars for export to gold markets in the East. As a further step in this process, it’s worth taking a look at the … Continue Reading

SGX Kilobar Gold contract vs Trading with BullionStar

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• Ronan Manly
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When Singapore Exchange (SGX) launched a physically-delivered gold kilobar contract in October 2014, there was much fanfare from the contract’s promoters (SGX, World Gold Council, IE Singapore and the Singapore Bullion Market Association) that the SGX Gold Kilobar would kick-start exchange-based gold kilobar trading in the Singapore gold market, while providing liquidity, price... Continue Reading

Venezuela exported 12.5 tonnes of gold to Switzerland on 8 March 2016, via Paris

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• Ronan Manly
• 3 Comments

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Following on from last month in which BullionStar’s Koos Jansen broke the news that Venezuela had sent almost 36 tonnes of its gold reserves to Switzerland at the beginning of the year, “Venezuela Exported 36t Of Its Official Gold Reserves To Switzerland In January“, there have now been further interesting developments in this ongoing saga. … Continue Reading

The LBMA Silver Price – Broken Promises on Wider Participation and Central Clearing

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• Ronan Manly
• 10 Comments

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On 28 January 2016, the midday LBMA Silver Price auction took 29 rounds to establish a final price of US$13.58 which was manipulated down by a whopping 6% below where silver spot and futures prices were trading at that time. This auction fiasco and price manipulation has caused deep concern among silver benchmark price users … Continue Reading

The Gold Vaults of London: Malca-Amit

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• Ronan Manly
• 1 Comments

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Following on from the recent blog post “G4S London Gold Vault 2.0 – ICBC Standard Bank in, Deutsche Bank out“, which discusses the G4S precious metals vault located on Abbey Road in the Park Royal area of London, its instructive to also look at where the other London Gold Market vaults are located. According to … Continue Reading

Update on Bundesbank Gold Repatriation 2015

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• Ronan Manly
• 5 Comments

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Deutsche Bundesbank has just released a progress report on its gold bar repatriation programme for 2015 – “Frankfurt becomes Bundesbank’s largest gold storage location“. During the calendar year to December 2015, the Bundesbank claims to have transported 210 tonnes of gold back to Frankfurt, moving circa 110 tonnes from Paris to Frankfurt, and just under … Continue Reading

G4S London Gold Vault 2.0 – ICBC Standard Bank in, Deutsche Bank out

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• Ronan Manly
• 1 Comments

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On 8 January 2016, Reuters broke the news that ICBC Standard Bank has purchased the lease on Deutsche Bank’s gold vault in London, and that ICBC Standard intends to become a member of the clearing syndicate, London Precious Metals Clearing Limited (LPMCL): “ICBC Standard Bank is buying the lease on Deutsche Bank’s London gold and … Continue Reading

From Good Delivery bars to Kilobars – The Swiss Refineries, the GFMS data, and the LBMA

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• Ronan Manly
• 43 Comments

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In early September 2015, I wrote an article titled “Moving the goalposts….The LBMA’s shifting stance on gold refinery production statistics”, in which I explained how the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) had, on Wednesday 5 August, substantially lowered its 2013 gold and silver refinery production statistics literally a few days after I had commented on … Continue Reading

Venezuela says adiós to her gold reserves

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• Ronan Manly
• 1 Comments

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Five months ago in my article “Venezuela’s Gold Reserves – Part 2: From Repatriation to Reactivation“, I concluded that: “given the deteriorating state of Venezuela’s international finances and international reserves at the present time, it may be sooner rather than later before Venezuelan gold could be on the move again out of the country. One thing … Continue Reading

Central Banks’ secrecy and silence on gold storage arrangements

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• Ronan Manly
• 4 Comments

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Whereas some central banks have become more forthcoming on where they claim their official gold reserves are stored (see my recent blog post ‘Central bank gold at the Bank of England‘), many of the world’s central banks remain secretive in this regard, with some central bank staff saying that they are not allowed to provide … Continue Reading

Central bank gold at the Bank of England

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• Ronan Manly
• 14 Comments

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In a recent article, “How many Good Delivery gold bars are in all the London Vaults?….including the Bank of England vaults“, I considered how much gold is actually in the London Gold Market, and highlighted how the amount of gold stored in the London wholesale market has fallen noticeably in recent years. That article highlighted … Continue Reading

Six months on ICE – The LBMA Gold Price

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• Ronan Manly
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It’s now been 6 months since the LBMA Gold Price auction, the much touted replacement to the London Gold Fixings, was launched on an ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) platform on Friday 20 March 2015. For anyone not au fait with the gold price auction, the LBMA Gold Price is a twice daily auction that produces … Continue Reading

How many Good Delivery gold bars are in all the London Vaults?….including the Bank of England vaults

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• Ronan Manly
• 14 Comments

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Each year in June, the Bank of England publishes its annual report which quotes financial data up to the end of February (its financial year-end). The Bank’s annual report also states the amount of gold, valued at a market price in Pounds sterling, that it holds under custody for its customers, which comprise central banks, … Continue Reading

Moving the goalposts….The LBMA’s shifting stance on gold refinery production statistics

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• Ronan Manly
• 1 Comments

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On Friday 31st July 2015, I released an article discussing the sale of Swiss gold refiner Valcambi to Indian jewellery company Rajesh Exports. In my report, in a section about Valcambi’s annual gold refining capacity, I made passing reference to 2013 gold refining production statistics that had been published by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) … Continue Reading

The Bank of England’s revealing views on Gold in 1988

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• Ronan Manly
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Below is an interesting 1988 discussion paper on gold, written by Bank of England staff. The original paper can be found in pdf here. The United Kingdom’s gold reserves belong to HM Treasury (HMT) and are held in the Exchange Equalisation Account (EEA), but managed by the Bank of England on behalf of HMT. The discussion paper … Continue Reading

Swiss Gold Refineries and the sale of Valcambi

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• Ronan Manly
• 6 Comments

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The normally low-key Swiss gold refining market has been thrown into the spotlight with the announcement that private company Valcambi, the world’s largest gold refinery, is being acquired by Indian group Rajesh Exports Ltd (REL), the world’s largest gold jewellery manufacturer. This acquisition is worth analysing for a number of reasons, namely will the Valcambi-Rajesh... Continue Reading

The pre-2015 London Gold Fixings – More technologically advanced than reported

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• Ronan Manly
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The financial media has recently pitched the transition of the London daily gold fixings to an ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) platform as a quantum leap from an antiquated Victorian-era process to a futuristic 21st century electronic auction. For example, the Wall Street Journal recently said that: “Four of the banks…had participated in the conference call used to... Continue Reading

The funding model of the World Gold Council: GLD Fees and Gold Miner Dues

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• Ronan Manly
• 2 Comments

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In a little noticed development at the end of March 2015, World Gold Council (WGC) member company Newcrest Mining of Australia ceased to be a member of the WGC, thereby reducing the Council’s membership from 19 to 18 gold mining companies. Newcrest Mining is one of the world’s largest gold mining companies and Australia’s largest … Continue Reading

US National Archives web site releases diplomatic cables from 1978

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• Ronan Manly
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The US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has just released a new batch of diplomatic cables from the year 1978, which can be searched and browsed via the Access to Archival Databases (AAD) website at http://aad.archives.gov/aad/. These batches of cables are variously known as “State Department Cables“, “Diplomatic Records" or “Central Foreign... Continue Reading

Venezuela’s Gold Reserves – Part 2: From Repatriation to Reactivation

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• Ronan Manly
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This is Part 2 of a two-part series. Part 1, titled “Venezuela’s Gold Reserves – Part 1: El Oro, El BCV, y Los Bancos de Lingotes“, provided a historical overview of Venezuela’s gold and looked at where the gold, and the claims on gold, were located just prior to repatriation in 2011, especially the gold … Continue Reading

Venezuela’s Gold Reserves – Part 1: El Oro, El BCV, y Los Bancos de Lingotes

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• Ronan Manly
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Venezuela’s gold reserves have rarely stayed out of the financial news headlines over the last four years. From initial gold repatriation announcements in August 2011, through to gold shipments from Europe to Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, in late 2011 and early 2012, as well as the more recent negotiations on using gold in swaps and for … Continue Reading

El Salvador’s gold reserves, the BIS, and the bullion banks

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• Ronan Manly
• 4 Comments

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According to a Reuters report from 24 April, the central bank of El Salvador, Banco Central de Reserva de El Salvador (BCR), sold approximately 80% of its gold reserves during March 2015. This sale comprised 5.412 tons of gold and raised $206 million for the Bank. Reuters initiated its story based on updates to the … Continue Reading

The IMF’s Gold Depositories – Part 3, Gold Swaps and the Quality of the IMF Gold

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• Ronan Manly
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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is authorized to use its gold holdings to engage in gold location swaps and has done so frequently in the past. This has involved gold location swaps with the entities who maintain the gold vaults where the IMF stores its gold, such as the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, … Continue Reading

London Gold Fixing website www.goldfixing.com taken offline

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• Ronan Manly
• 7 Comments

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(Update 23/03/2015: The www.goldfixing.com website was permanently switched off in the early morning of Monday 23rd March 2015) The last ever ‘Gold Fixing’ will take place on the afternoon of Thursday 19th March 2015 at 3.00pm. Following the last fixing, the www.goldfixing.com website of the London Gold Market Fixing Limited will be immediately and permanently … Continue Reading

Chinese Banks as direct participants in the new LBMA Gold and Silver Price auctions? Not so fast!

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• Ronan Manly
• 4 Comments

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There is a growing assumption in the financial media that a number of Chinese banks will be joining the new LBMA Gold Price auction as direct participants when the auction launches in London on Friday 20th March. This assumption is based on various sources, but primarily on a number of general comments made by the … Continue Reading

The Bank of England and the London Gold Fixings in the 1980s

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• Ronan Manly
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With the current structure of the London gold price fixings disappearing in the very near future, there is an unusual story that I’d like to share about the gold fixings. It concerns the Bank of England’s ‘gold activities’ in the daily London Gold Fixings during the 1980s, and my attempts to get the Bank to explain … Continue Reading

Spotlight on Greece’s Gold Reserves and Grexit

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• Ronan Manly
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With the Greek Government and the Troika back in the news right now, it’s a good time to take a look at Greece’s official gold reserves and examine how much gold Greece claims to hold, where this gold might be located, and explore the impact that the European bailouts or a Greek Euro exit might have … Continue Reading

The IMF’s Gold Depositories – Part 2, Nagpur and Shanghai, the Indian and Chinese connections

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• Ronan Manly
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Part 1 of the IMF’s Gold Depositories series explained the legal background as to why the IMF originally made the decision to hold gold at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Bank of England, the Banque de France and the Reserve Bank of India. See Part 1 for details, but as a quick … Continue Reading

The Keys to the Gold Vaults at the New York Fed – Part 3: ‘Coin Bars’, ‘Melts’ and the Bundesbank

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• Ronan Manly
• 5 Comments

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Part 1 of this series reviewed Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) publications that cover the Fed’s gold storage vaults in Manhattan, and illustrated how the information in these publications has been watered down over time. Part 1 also showed that the number of foreign central bank customers storing gold with the FRBNY has fallen substantially since the late … Continue Reading

The IMF’s Gold Depositories – Part 1, The Legal Background

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• Ronan Manly
• 3 Comments

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the world’s third largest official sector holder of gold behind the United States and Germany. According to the Fund’s web site, as at October 2014 “the IMF holds around 90.5 million ounces (2,814.1 metric tons) of gold at designated depositories." The IMF’s gold holdings were accumulated between 1946 and … Continue Reading

The Keys to the Gold Vaults at the New York Fed – Part 2: The Auxiliary Vault

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• Ronan Manly
• 11 Comments

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The FRBNY’s Auxiliary Vault As mentioned in Part 1 of Keys to the Gold Vaults at the New York Fed, there are two gold vaults at the New York Fed, the main vault and the auxiliary vault. Very little is written anywhere about the FRBNY’s auxiliary vault, or the ‘aux vault’ as it has sometimes been … Continue Reading

The Keys to the Gold Vaults at the New York Fed – Part 1

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• Ronan Manly
• 10 Comments

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Over time, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) has become increasingly less transparent in sharing information about its Manhattan gold vaults. I use gold vaults in the plural because there are two gold vaults at the New York Fed’s headquarters, namely, the main vault and the auxiliary vault. During the 1970s, New York … Continue Reading