German financial watchdog to investigate gold price-fixing

BaFin, Germany’s financial supervisory authority, has begun an investigation into suspected price-fixing of benchmark gold and silver prices, WSJ Deutschland reported Tuesday.

“Apart from Libor and Euribor, BaFin is also looking into other benchmark setting procedures at individual banks such as for gold and silver prices,” a BaFin spokesman said.

The move comes less than a day after the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) officially launched a probe on the matter.

The WSJ report also claimed that similar probes were under way in the UK and US, though no sources were mentioned.

Regulators around the world have begun to wrestle back oversight authority over the financial sector since the 2008 financial crisis and after a long period dominated by “light-touch” regulatory philosophy.

 

3 Comments