Photo: ReutersLondon: The World Gold Council (WGC) is studying the creation of a global standard for gold kilobars so they can be deployed as collateral in futures markets and potentially encourage demand, people close to the matter said. People in the know estimate top consumer China imports about 95% of gold in kilobars, while world No. Gold contracts on the Shanghai Gold Exchange, Shanghai Futures Exchange and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing are in kilobars. “The Asian consumer market is in kilobars, it dominates gold trade,” a gold industry person said. However, the London market was designed for central banks, many of which have diversified reserves into currencies and government bonds, so are no longer as active in the gold market.

Source: Mint January 22, 2018 16:18 UTC