LBMA Auctions establish prices in certain precious metals that are used as benchmark reference prices. Participants in LBMA Auctions submit bids and offers on behalf of clients wishing to buy or sell the relevant metal (Client Orders) and are also able to submit bids and offers for themselves (House Orders). It is understood that certain participants in an LBMA Auction may not be submitting House Orders due to concerns around the management of regulatory and conduct risks associated with:

(i) sourcing liquidity through an auction process which sets the LBMA Precious Metal Price; or
(ii) managing both Client Orders and House Orders in the LBMA Auctions.

This Standard, through its five Core Principles, is designed to provide some clarity as to the way in which those risks can be managed, so as to increase the volume of bids and offers submitted to LBMA Auctions and improve the quality of price discovery resulting from them, thereby improving the effectiveness of the market.