Exactly six months ago, the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) began weekly publication of rolled up trade volume data for the London and Zurich gold and silver markets in an exercise that was spun by the LBMA as increasing transparency in the global over-the-counter precious metals markets.

Despite all of the above, despite now charging US$ 18,000 per year to access what is still only snapshot high level rolled up data that is not trade reporting, the LBMA still has the courage to claim on its website that its “Committed to Transparency”. To which it should add “As long as you ‘Pay-to-Play'”.