LBMA Fixing
Also: London Fix, London fixing price, LBMA Gold Price, LBMA Silver Price
The LBMA Fixing is a reference price for gold and silver set twice daily in London, used worldwide as a binding benchmark for trading transactions, mine contracts and financial products.
The LBMA Fixing – officially referred to today as the LBMA Gold Price or LBMA Silver Price – is the world's most important reference price for physical gold and silver. It is determined daily in London through a regulated electronic auction process and serves mining groups, central banks, jewellery manufacturers, refineries and financial institutions as a binding pricing basis for millions of contracts. You can follow the current gold price and silver price on this website at any time.
Historical development
The London gold fixing has a nearly hundred-year history:
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1919 | First daily gold fixing in London (N M Rothschild & Sons, 4 further banks) |
| 1968 | Second daily fixing introduced (PM fix); two-tier market after gold-pool collapse |
| 1987 | Founding of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) |
| 2004 | Rothschild withdraws; Barclays Capital takes the seat, physical meetings end – fixing runs thereafter as a conference call, chair rotates annually |
| 2014 | Manipulation allegations lead to regulatory reforms |
| 2015 | ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) takes over administration; new electronic auction model |
The silver fixing existed in its original form from 1897 to 2014 and has run since August 2014 as the electronic LBMA Silver Price. Administration was initially handled by the CME Group together with Thomson Reuters; since 2 October 2017 the LBMA Silver Price – like the gold price – has been administered by the ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA).
How does the auction process work?
Since the 2015 reform, the gold fixing has run as a fully automated, electronic auction according to a clearly defined algorithm:
Starting price = current OTC spot price (guide value)
Round n:
Bids and offers of the participants are aggregated
If |demand - supply| ≤ tolerance → fixing price set
Otherwise: price is adjusted → next round
The auction begins with a starting price near the current spot price and iterates within a few minutes until supply and demand are balanced within a defined tolerance corridor. Participants are exclusively LBMA-accredited market participants (direct participants) who bid in their own name or for clients.
Daily fixing times (London local time):
- Gold AM Fix: 10:30
- Gold PM Fix: 15:00
- Silver Fix: 12:00
Distinction: fixing price vs. spot price
A common misconception: the fixing price is not identical to the current spot price, even though the two are closely related.
| Feature | Spot price | LBMA Fixing |
|---|---|---|
| Determination | Continuous, OTC interbank trading | 2× daily by auction |
| Purpose | Short-term trading, hedging | Contract reference, settlements |
| Bindingness | Indicative | Official benchmark |
| Transparency | Varies by provider | Fully published |
| Regulation | Low | FCA-regulated (UK) |
For short-term buying decisions the current spot price is more relevant; for long-term supply contracts or mine offtakes, reference is typically made to the fixing price.
Significance and use
The LBMA fixing price is applied in a variety of contexts:
- Mine contracts: Gold producers often sell their output at "PM fix minus X USD/oz".
- Jewellery and industrial offtakes: Refineries and jewellery manufacturers settle on a fixing basis.
- Central banks: Valuation of gold reserves and transactions between central banks.
- ETFs and ETCs: Many gold funds (e.g. physically backed gold ETFs) value their units daily at the LBMA PM fix.
- Derivatives and structured products: Options and futures contracts on the OTC market reference the fixing price as the settlement rate.
- Tax valuation: In some jurisdictions the fixing price is used as a valuation basis for inheritance or gift tax (no tax or investment advice; please consult a tax adviser).
The historical fixing prices are publicly accessible and form one of the most extensive price time series in the commodities market – gold goes back as far as 1968.
Regulation and integrity
Following the Libor scandal and suspicions of market manipulation in the gold market (2014), the fixing process was fundamentally reformed:
- FCA supervision: As benchmark administrator, IBA is subject to the UK Financial Conduct Authority.
- Full traceability: All auction rounds are logged.
- Expanded participant circle: More accredited banks and trading companies can participate.
- BMR conformity: The process meets the requirements of the EU Benchmark Regulation (BMR).
Platinum metals: no LBMA fixing
Important to know: for platinum and palladium there is no classic gold or silver fixing by IBA. For these metals the LBMA Platinum and Palladium Prices are determined – twice daily by electronic auction, administered by the London Metal Exchange (LME), which took over this process at the end of 2014 from the former London Platinum and Palladium Fixing.
In brief
The LBMA Fixing is the heart of the London gold market: a regulated, electronic auction process that delivers two binding reference prices for gold and one for silver each day – used by central banks, mines, refineries and financial products around the globe. Anyone buying or selling physical precious metal is de facto always trading in the shadow of this benchmark. You can view the current price and the historical price development on this page at any time and continue calculating with our gold calculator.