This new protocol has been in place since Friday January 29 and all participants and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) were informed before its implementation, the statement said.

The auction’s administrators Thomson Reuters and CME will also look at the viability of introducing centralised clearing of all auction trades, to make the process easier and less capital intensive for participants.

Furthermore, the committee will present details of a new blind auction system to participants, their clients and the Financial Conduct Authority, where only prices and not volumes will be disclosed to participants until after the auction has closed.

It will also present measures to increase the settlement tolerance where necessary to maintain the integrity of the auction, change the structure for sharing the differential to encourage full participants and a package of measures to increase participation in the benchmark process and to encourage non-banks to participate, it added.

Silver auctions to be suspended if it threatens benchmark’s integrity