Britain carves out exemption for gold clearing banks from Basel III rule – Reuters

Britain carves out exemption for gold clearing banks from Basel III rule – Reuters

LONDON, July 10 (Reuters) - Banks clearing gold trades in London can apply for an exemption from tighter capital rules due in January 2022, a British regulator said on Friday, removing what some said was a threat to the functioning of the market.

London is the world's biggest physical precious metals trading hub. Its clearing system, operated by a handful of large banks with access to metal in vaults - JPMorgan (JPM.N), HSBC (HSBA.L), ICBC Standard (601398.SS), (SBKJ.J) and UBS (UBSG.S) - settles gold transactions worth around $30 billion a day.

The upcoming rules, known as the net stable funding ratio (NSFR), are part of Basel III regulations designed to make banks more stable and prevent a repeat of the financial crisis of 2008-09.