London 28/11/2014 - The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) will take formal ownership of the platinum and palladium prices from Monday, it said, following an approach from the London Platinum and Palladium Fixing Co Ltd, pending legal agreements.
"The LBMA… has agreed to take ownership of the historic and future intellectual property (primarily price data) of what will now be called The LBMA Platinum Price and the LBMA Palladium Price," it said in a statement to FastMarkets today.
The decision follows increased regulatory pressure and infrastructure issues that surround benchmarking. LPPFC lacks the necessary resources to deal with the increased pressure on companies that host benchmarks, with just one member of part-time staff currently dealing with the administration, the LBMA said.
Moreover, it was suggested that the LPPFC felt that the LBMA’s work with the gold and silver prices made it a better host for the prices due to its legal and support infrastructure.
The intellectual property, which includes historic data, will now be held by Precious Metals Prices Ltd, a newly established subsidiary of the LBMA.
The London Metal Exchange is shortly due to take over administration of the benchmark pricing of the two prices, which as of Monday will be the LBMA Platinum and LBMA palladium price.
(Editing by Mark Shaw)