For a group famous for its caution in appearing associated with and endorsing gold, Western central bankers seem to have made an exception when it comes to sitting on the bord of directors of the world’s largest bullion bank gold cartel, the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA). But maybe that’s the point. Because, if central banks and their proxies are close to the action in the gold market, they will be able to control their interests, as well as influence and control others.

A lot has been written about the London gold spot price – COMEX gold futures price spread (EFP) blow up on 23/24 March, whose detonation has sent across the gold market on each side of the Atlantic, and whose trigger has been the subject of much speculation and debate.

Importantly, the fallout from this seismic event continues to roll on, and has caused unusual goings-on among the bullion banks in London and New York

CME lowers silver margins by 11%

Gold trading banks are preparing to significantly reduce their positions on CME Group’s Comex exchange in New York, nine people familiar with the plans said, shifting more trading to London and raising costs for thousands of investors.

Some bullion banks are no longer willing to hold large positions on Comex, the biggest gold futures market, after the coronavirus snarled the supply of gold bars, sending Comex prices vaulting above London rates in March.

Australia’s largest gold refinery has ramped up production of one kilogram bars to ease the supply squeeze in the U.S. that helped propel a surge in the premium for New York futures.

In the midst of the ongoing fractures in the paper gold markets that have triggered bullion bank panic from London to New York, forcing their public , the LBMA and CME Group (COMEX) to claiming “healthy gold stocks in New York and London”, we have consistently reminded those interested in the topic that the claims of the LBMA-COMEX do not stand up to scrutiny, in regards to both the London gold float, and the deliverable gold inventories in the COMEX approved New York vaults, especially when it comes to ‘Eligible gold’.

COMEX secures secrecy agreement with CFTC under FOIA not to release details to the public of its market maker program for the new 400 oz gold futures contract hatched with LBMA, because "Disclosure Would Likely Cause Competitive Harm to COMEX". Program begins tomorrow April 13.

Insurance firms have started covering charter flights to carry gold, helping to ease logjams in the bullion supply chain that caused prices to diverge sharply in different markets, the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) said on Thursday.

The moral of that story and the lessons that we can learn are simple – don’t believe the pronouncements of the powers that be in the London and US gold markets, especially during a crisis. In March 1968, during the last days of the London Gold Pool, as the central bank cartel ship began to sink, theystodd steadfast in denials that anything was amiss, brazenly saying that “the London Gold Pool reaffirm their determination to support the pool."

This time around, with their hollow claims about “healthy stocks of gold in London and New York”, and that the “LBMA has offered its support to CME Group”, the names may have changed but the denial strategy remains the same. It therefore seems that while history doesn’t repeat itself, it still often rhymes.

First Day deliveries.