Eleven gold trading hubs including the United Arab Emirates have declared their support for an initiative by the world's most influential bullion market authority to improve regulation on issues such as money laundering and unethical sourcing of gold.
The London Bullion Market Association said on Friday authorities in the eleven hubs had responded positively to a letter it sent last month laying out regulatory standards.
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The letter said that if any center did not enforce the standards, the LBMA could stop precious metals refineries it accredits from accepting bullion from them.
That would effectively block their access to the mainstream international bullion market because large banks that dominate gold trading tend to deal in metal only from LBMA-accredited refiners.
The LBMA letter asked recipients to declare their support by Dec. 11 and share an implementation plan by the end of January.
