For nearly a 100 years the daily gold price has been fixed by just a handful of financial institutions with the whole affair being pretty secretive, until recently when Barclays was fined £26m in May for preventing to stop one of its traders trying to influence the gold price.
Yesterday traders and market participants were given the opportunity to debate whether there remains a case for the daily gold fix.
In light of the recent indiscretion surrounding the area some traders are worried that if this typically enigmatic matter is not nipped in the bud quickly the fixing debate could be blown into a big financial scandal.
So what are the pros and cons surrounding the daily gold fix?
Those who are in favour claim the twice a day gold fix allows many to set a bench mark for prices. Most of the central banks wait for the afternoon fix to attach a price to their gold stock and jewellers and coin dealers use the gold price fix to fix their stock prices daily.
On the other hand, many complain that the system lacks transparency and is too rigid.
Furthermore since Barclays have been discovered in foul play, this has led to questions surrounding the other financial organisations left on the board not to mention Deutche Bank giving up its seat which is yet to be replaced.
There is however, a strong argument the daily fix no longer has a place in society where many of us work in a 24 hour trading cycle. We no longer have to wait for the money fix we simply check our smart phone, with 24/7 pricing is there a need to continue this tradition?
Soon it is likely we will see a reformed gold price system where the remit will be broader and transparent.
Meanwhile gold has been the commodity of the moment of recent as rising tensions in Iraq continue and Russia and Ukraine simmer in the background. The shiny metal has enjoyed its second quarter of net gains and it is this increased political instability which has led to the Bull Run.