LBMA: All You Need to Know as a UK Gold Buyer

If you have looked at gold bars in the UK, you have probably seen the letters LBMA in product descriptions: “LBMA approved”, “LBMA Good Delivery refiner”, “LBMA Gold Price”. But what is the LBMA, and why should a private buyer care about a London trade association for banks and refiners?

In this guide, we explain what the LBMA does, how Good Delivery works, how the LBMA Gold Price is set, which refiners are on the list, and what all this means when you compare gold bar prices from UK dealers. At the end, you will find a summary and an FAQ.

What Is the LBMA?

The LBMA (London Bullion Market Association) is the international trade association for the wholesale precious metals market. It sets the standards for gold and silver bars traded in London, keeps the Good Delivery List of accredited refiners, and owns the LBMA precious metal price benchmarks.

Is the LBMA a stock exchange? No, it is a trade body. The London bullion market is an over-the-counter (OTC) market, which means members trade directly with each other rather than on an exchange.

What does the LBMA do?

Its main jobs are:

• Good Delivery: setting the rules for large gold and silver bars and accrediting the refiners that make them.
• Price benchmarks: owning the LBMA Gold Price and LBMA Silver Price, which are run by an independent administrator.
• Responsible sourcing: requiring listed refiners to pass yearly independent audits on where their metal comes from.
• Market standards: publishing codes of conduct and data on vault holdings and clearing.

Who are the LBMA members?

According to the LBMA, its members are financial institutions and mining, refining, transportation, trading, vaulting and manufacturing companies. There are three main membership types:

• Full Members: companies in the UK and abroad active in the London bullion market.
• Market Makers: Full Members that must quote bid and offer prices to each other during the London business day.
• Affiliates: international market participants, service providers, technology providers, exchanges and intermediaries.

Is a dealer “LBMA approved” because it sells LBMA bars? No. A dealer can sell bars from LBMA-listed refiners without being an LBMA member itself, so check which claim a seller is actually making.

A Short History of the London Bullion Market

London has been a centre of the gold trade for more than three centuries. The LBMA traces the roots of the market to a partnership between Moses Mocatta and the East India Company, which started shipping gold together towards the end of the 17th century.

The main steps were:

• By 1850: five firms, N M Rothschild & Sons, Mocatta & Goldsmid, Pixley & Abell, Samuel Montagu & Co. and Sharps Wilkins, were already established. They later formed the London Gold Market Fixing Company.
• 1919: the first gold price fixing took place at Rothschild’s offices in London.
• 1987: the Bank of England established the LBMA, which took over the roles of the London Gold Market and the London Silver Market.
• 20 March 2015: the old fixing was replaced by the electronic LBMA Gold Price auction, run by ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA).
• 1 July 2026: IBA also began administering the LBMA platinum and palladium prices, according to ICE.

Read also: Troy Ounce: Definition, History and Conversion Table

LBMA Good Delivery: What It Means

Good Delivery is the LBMA’s standard for the large bars that change hands in the London market. A bar is Good Delivery if it meets the LBMA’s rules on weight, fineness, marks and appearance and comes from a refiner on the Good Delivery List.

Good Delivery bar specifications

How much is a Good Delivery gold bar worth? At a typical 400 fine troy ounces and the spot price of £3,135.89 per ounce on 3 October 2026, the gold in one bar was worth about £1.25 million. You can follow the price on our gold price chart.

What does it take to join the list?

Refiners must prove they can produce bars to the standard over time. According to the LBMA, applicants need, among other things:

• refined production of at least 10 tonnes of gold or 50 tonnes of silver a year,
• tangible net worth of at least £15 million,
• compliance with the LBMA Responsible Sourcing Programme, checked by independent auditors.

Listed refiners are also monitored after accreditation. A refiner that no longer meets the rules can be moved to the “Former List”.

Which refiners are on the Good Delivery List?

On the current gold Good Delivery List we checked in early October 2026, there were 67 refiners in 25 countries. China and Japan had the most. The UK had none.

Many bars sold in the UK come from listed Swiss refiners. On the current list, Switzerland’s five gold refiners were Valcambi, MKS PAMP, Metalor Technologies, PX Précinox and Argor-Heraeus. Other well-known names on the list include the Perth Mint, the Royal Canadian Mint and South Africa’s Rand Refinery. You can read more about them on our profiles of PAMP Suisse, Argor Heraeus, the Perth Mint and Rand Refinery.

Does the Good Delivery standard apply to small bars?

Not directly. Good Delivery rules cover the large wholesale bars. Small investment bars (1 g to 1 kg) are not Good Delivery bars, but most reputable ones are made by refiners that are on the list. When a UK dealer says a 1 oz bar is “LBMA approved”, it usually means the refiner is LBMA accredited.

Why the LBMA Matters When You Buy Gold in the UK

Why should a private buyer care? Because LBMA standards shape three things you deal with directly: what counts as investment gold for VAT, which bars are easy to resell, and the reference price behind the market.

VAT-free investment gold

In the UK, investment gold is exempt from VAT. HMRC’s VAT Notice 701/21 defines investment gold bars and wafers as “gold of a purity not less than 995 thousandths” in “a weight accepted by the bullion markets”. The notice lists the weights commonly traded in the London bullion market, from the 12.5 kg London Good Delivery bar and 1 kg bars down to 1 g.

Silver, platinum and palladium do not get this exemption, so VAT is normally charged on them in the UK.

Easier resale

A bar from a well-known LBMA-listed refiner, in its original sealed packaging with a serial number, is easy for any UK dealer to check and buy back. A bar from an unknown maker may need testing first, and the dealer may offer less. If you are unsure about a product, our guide on how to spot fake gold and silver coins explains the checks.

What you pay for bars from LBMA-listed refiners

Being LBMA accredited does not make a bar cheap. The premium you pay over the gold value depends mainly on the size of the bar and the dealer. Here are UK prices for bars from two listed refiners, Valcambi and PAMP:

The same Valcambi 10 g bar cost 4.8% over spot at one dealer and 7.3% at another on the same morning. That is why we compare prices across dealers for 1 oz gold bars, 100 g gold bars and 10 g gold bars.

Read also: Large or Small Denominations: What’s Better When Buying Gold?

The LBMA Gold Price and Silver Price

The LBMA Gold Price is the global benchmark price for gold, set twice each London business day. It is not the same as the live spot price you see on a chart. The spot price moves all day; the LBMA price is a fixed reference point at set times.

How is the LBMA Gold Price set?

ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) runs an electronic auction. Participants submit buy and sell orders in US dollars, and the price is adjusted round by round until buying and selling are balanced. The final price is published as the LBMA Gold Price.

Is there an LBMA Gold Price in pounds?

Yes, but only as a conversion. The auction runs in dollars, and the result is converted into pounds, euros and other currencies using the exchange rate at the end of the auction. The LBMA describes these as indicative prices for settlement only.

Who uses the LBMA prices? Central banks, miners, refiners, jewellers and many contracts and funds that need an agreed daily reference. As a private buyer, you will usually pay a dealer price based on the live spot price plus a premium, not the LBMA benchmark itself.

Loco London, Clearing and Unallocated Gold

“Loco London” means gold or silver held in London and traded on the London market. Most trades never move a physical bar. Instead, they are settled through accounts.

• LPMCL: London Precious Metals Clearing Limited runs the clearing system. It is owned and managed by four LBMA Market Maker banks: HSBC, ICBC Standard Bank, JP Morgan and UBS.
• Unallocated accounts: the LBMA says most bullion in London is traded and settled on an unallocated basis, where the customer has a general entitlement to an amount of metal rather than specific bars.
• Allocated accounts: specific, numbered bars are held for the customer.

This matters for private investors who buy gold stored in a vault. Allocated means specific bars belong to you. Unallocated means you hold a claim on the provider. We explain the difference in our guide What Is the Proper Way to Store Gold.

Responsible Sourcing

LBMA standards go beyond weight and purity. Every refiner on the Good Delivery List must follow the LBMA Responsible Sourcing Programme, with independent audits each year. The aim is to keep gold linked to conflict, money laundering and human rights abuses out of the supply chain.

“Our dedication to sustainability and responsible sourcing will not waver as we call on the whole supply chain to join us in our endeavours.”

Ruth Crowell, LBMA Chief Executive at the time, CEO Report in the LBMA Sustainability and Responsible Sourcing Report 2024

For a private buyer, this is one more reason to choose bars from listed refiners: the supply chain behind them is checked every year.

Summary: LBMA

Compare Prices for LBMA Gold Bars

LBMA accreditation tells you a bar is made to a trusted standard. It does not tell you whether the price is fair. On the same day, the same bar can cost noticeably more at one dealer than another.

Compare prices for gold bars and gold coins across UK bullion dealers, and check the live gold price before you buy.

This article is for information only and is not investment or tax advice.