CME, Thomson Reuters to replace silver fix

Bloomberg / Crain’s Chicago Business

lbmaCME Group Inc. and Thomson Reuters Corp. will run the replacement for the 117-year-old silver fixing benchmark that’s ending in August, the London Bullion Market Association said.

Testing is set for early August to go live on Aug. 15, the LBMA said in an e-mailed statement today. The London Metal Exchange, Autilla Ltd., Bloomberg LP, Intercontinental Exchange Inc., ETF Securities Ltd. and Platts had also proposed alternatives last month.

Mining companies to central banks use fixings to trade or value metal. The phone-based ritual for silver that takes place each day at noon will end Aug. 14 as Deutsche Bank AG’s exit from the process as it scales back its commodities business would leave just two banks to set prices. Precious metals are getting more attention from regulators after price rigging in everything from interbank lending rates to currencies led to fines and overhauled financial benchmarks.

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