LBMA Appoints Bank of England Veteran Fisher as New Chairman

(Bloomberg) -- The London Bullion Market Association said Paul Fisher, a Bank of England veteran who sat on the Monetary Policy Committee for five years, will replace Grant Angwin as its chairman.

Fisher, who later this month will retire from the central bank after a 26-year career, will assume the role on Sept. 5, the LBMA said in an e-mailed statement. Angwin, president of Asahi Refining and who has served as the association’s chairman for two years, will work alongside Fisher as co-chairman for the rest of 2016, it said.

Fisher’s last role at the BOE was as deputy head of the U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority and he also worked in the bank’s markets area during the financial crisis and was responsible for its asset-purchase program. Fisher is joining the LBMA at a time when London’s precious metals market is gearing up for changes. The association is looking to create a new trading and reporting platform, while the World Gold Council is said to be in exploratory talks with the London Metal Exchange and a group of banks to offer futures contracts.

“With his background and experience, he’s quite a heavyweight within the financial community,” said Ross Norman, who has spent more than 30 years in the bullion industry and is now chief executive officer of retail bullion dealer Sharps Pixley Ltd. in London. “It’s good news for all concerned.”

London Market

About $5 trillion of transactions are cleared every year in London’s gold market, where the over-the-counter system of trading has been largely unchanged for centuries. As well as facing challenges from other trading hubs such as Shanghai, the London market is getting more attention from regulators after banks were found to have conspired to rig a global benchmark for interest rates during the financial crisis.

The LBMA’s plans to modernize OTC trading would allow for more in-depth trade reporting, something the association has said would allow for greater transparency. The body has 82 members and 62 associates in more than 30 countries, its website shows.

“His appointment strengthens the governance of the LBMA and brings deep financial market experience to the board,” Angwin said in the statement. Full member representatives of the LBMA board will stand for election, or re-election, at the annual general meeting on Sept. 27, the LBMA said.

Fisher developed a knowledge of the bullion market by dealing with the LBMA, which is located across the street from the BOE, while running the bank’s foreign-exchange division from 2002, according to the statement. His retirement from the central bank was reported earlier this year.

“The Bank of England and LBMA have a close relationship and have always done,” Norman said by phone. “London remains the global epicenter for trading gold.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Nicholas Larkin in London at nlarkin1@bloomberg.net, Agnieszka de Sousa in London at atroszkiewic@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Thomasson at lthomasson@bloomberg.net, Nicholas Larkin, Ana Monteiro