German financial institution Deutsche Bank wants a seat at the gold table again as it applies to rejoin the London Bullion Market Association, according to media reports Friday.
According to a report from Bloomberg, the German bank’s move back into the precious metal market is its latest move to expand the company’s trading desk.
The bank said in a statement Friday that its application to the LBMA “brings us into line with other banks that offer precious metal services.”
“It reflects the careful growth of our precious metals business in recent years and growing client demand for our services,” Deutsche Bank added in the statement.
The German bank is coming back to the precious metals sector eight years after it left under a cloud of manipulation allegations and lawsuits.
Deutsche Bank was one of a handful of bullion banks that had a tight grip on the market with the twice-daily price fix. Deutsche Bank gave up its seat at the century gold fixing club in London in 2014 after the bullion banks were accused of manipulating precious metals prices.
In 2016 Deutsche Bank was the first bullion bank to settle a private antitrust lawsuit filed in the U.S. for $60 million. The bank also paid $38 million to settle a similar manipulation lawsuit filed by silver investors and traders.
It also agreed to work with market regulators as they investigated the manipulation claims.
In the last eight years, many bullion banks have faced further manipulation lawsuits. They have also received significant fines from global financial regulators for colluding and manipulating prices.
The London Gold Fix was eventually disbanded in 2016 and replaced by the LBMA Gold Price. Gold prices are fixed twice daily through online auctions among 16 participants. The LBMA also established benchmark prices for silver and PGMs, with daily online auctions.
Source: Kitco