From this summer all London gold and silver vaults will publish physical inventory holdings, with platinum and palladium to follow at a later date, the London Bullion Market Association and London Precious Metals Clearing Ltd said in a joint statement Monday.
The data will only include physical metal held within the London vaults and does not include physical precious metals holdings readily available at short notice in other secure overseas vaulting facilities, the statement said.
Physical holdings of precious metals held in London vaults underpin the gross daily trading and net clearing in the city.
London, for the time being, remains the world's largest gold trading hub, with $18.1 billion of metal cleared on average each day in March, according to the LBMA.
"Publication of physical holdings represents a further step towards improved transparency of reporting for the London precious metals market, in line with the recommendations of the Fair and Effective Markets Review," the statement added.
The next step forward will be trade reporting.
"The collection of trade data will add transparency to the market and provide gross turnover for the Loco London market. Previously gross turnover had been calculated from one-off surveys or estimated from the clearing statistics," it added.
Ruth Crowell, chief executive of the LBMA, said: "We are delighted that the Bank of England and the commercial vaults in London have agreed to support the publication of the vault holdings. This is an important step towards greater transparency and will provide further evidence as to the size and importance of the precious metals market in London."
