The company operating the gold price 'fix' has appointed a supervisory committee to oversee the century-old system of benchmarking gold prices ahead of the implementation of stricter regulations, its website showed on Friday.

The London Gold Market Fixing Ltd's new board is made up of compliance officers at the four banks that currently set the twice-daily auction process over the telephone.

The appointment of the committee comes after the company said this month it was seeking a third party to take over administration of the process.

Other changes, which will include a new code of conduct for participants and the appointment of an independent chairperson, are widely seen as the first steps toward a move to an electronic platform which will broadcast it to a wider audience.