LBMA Sample Clauses

LBMA. The London Bullion Market Association is the London-based trade association that represents the wholesale gold and silver bullion market. London is the focus of the international Over- the-Counter (OTC) market for gold and silver, with a client base including the majority of the central banks that hold gold, plus producers, refiners, fabricators and other traders throughout the world. The LBMA was formally incorporated in 1987 in close consultation with the Bank of England, which was the bullion market’s regulator at that time. The primary regulator for the bullion market in the UK is now the Financial Services Authority, with which the Association maintains a close working relationship. The LBMA’s membership includes companies that are active in the bullion market, encompassing banks, dealers, fabricators, refiners, shippers and brokers. There are two categories of full membership: market making and ordinary (although the latter term is not currently used in the LBMA’s Articles, which simply refer to Members and Market Making Members). Although originally open only to UK-based companies, full membership can now be granted to companies in other countries as long as they have a branch or subsidiary in the UK. In January 2000, the Association widened its base of participation by introducing a third category of membership, Associateship, which is designed for companies that have strong ties to the London bullion market. Associates, however, are not Members and, for instance, have no vote in the affairs of the Association. The Association’s 63 Members, 52 Associates and 3 Affiliates are located in 19 countries. Unlike other commodity exchanges, the London Bullion Market does not operate as a commodities exchange with a clearing house as a central counterparty, but instead operates on an Over-the-Counter (OTC) or principal-to-principal basis, which enables participants throughout the world to trade with Members of the London market. Six of the Market Making Members provide a clearing service for both paper gold and silver (based on unallocated accounts) and physical gold and silver in the form of allocated metal. A list of Full Members is shown at Annex 2. As the London Bullion Market is an OTC market, no comprehensive data is published as to the amount of metal that is traded in the London market, but the average daily value for gold and silver cleared through the London Bullion Market in June 2007 was US$14.3 billion and US$1.48 billion, respectively. The Lon...