The London Gold Market Fixing Limited is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is One Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8HQ.
These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland” (“FRS 102”) and the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 as applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling , which is the functional currency of the company. Monetary a mounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest pound.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
The directors consider that, with the continuing financial support of its members in respect of operating expenses including legal fees, the company will be able to meet its liabilities as and when they fall due for a period of at least twelve months from the date of approval of the financial statements. The accounts have therefore been prepared on a going concern basis.
The average monthly number of persons (including directors) employed by the company during the year was 0 (2017 - 0).
As the income statement has been omitted from the filing copy of the financial statements the following information in relation to the audit report on the statutory financial statements is provided in accordance with s444(5B) of the Companies Act 2006 :
The auditor's report was unqualified.
The London Gold Market Fixing Limited four member banks have been named as defendants in class action lawsuits pending in the United States Federal Court for the Southern District of New York, the first of which was filed on 3 March 2014 in connection with their roles in setting the London benchmark gold price. The complaints allege, amongst other things, that The London Gold Market Fixing Limited and the member banks collectively violated various provisions of the Sherman Act, the Commodity Exchange Act, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) rule 180.1(a) and various state laws by manipulating the London benchmark gold price. The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of damages and trebling of damages under the Sherman Act.
The London Gold Market Fixing Limited and its previously five member banks (and certain of their affiliates) have been named as defendants in a class action commenced on 18 th December, 2015, in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. The plaintiffs allege, among other things, that The London Gold Market Fixing Limited and the member banks conspired, agreed and / or arranged with each other to manipulate the London benchmark gold price, and seek damages of Can$ 1,000,000,000 under the Competition Act and for civil conspiracy, unjust enrichment and waiver of tort.
The directors believe that the lawsuits are without grounds and that The London Gold Market Fixing Limited is not liable as a result. They intend to defend the lawsuits vigorously and it is currently not practicable to provide an estimate of the financial impact of the potential exposure of the action described or what effect if any that it might have upon operating results, cash flows or The London Gold Market Fixing Limited’s financial position in any particular period.
The following were members of The London Gold Market Fixing Limited during the financial year:
Barclays Bank Plc
HSBC Bank USA
The Bank of Nova Scotia
Societe Generale
The company's membership income which for the year ended 31 March 2018 was £410,000 (2017: £180,000) is derived from the members in equal shares.
The company is limited by guarantee and as such has no share capital. The liability of the members is limited to £10 each.