What the LBMA Accredits

Investors and advisers encounter a number of terms when deciding where precious metals are stored, and some of them are used loosely. This page sets out what the LBMA accredits, what London’s “chain of integrity” is, and how vaulting arrangements work across the major gold markets. Every statement below is sourced to a published document, and each source can be opened and checked.

1. What the LBMA Accredits

The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) maintains the Good Delivery Lists: registers of refiners that meet its standards for production quality, financial standing, and responsible sourcing.^[1] Bars made by those refiners to the required specification are known as Good Delivery bars. The equivalent list for platinum and palladium — the London/Zurich Good Delivery List — is maintained by a separate body, the London Platinum and Palladium Market (LPPM).^[2] In Singapore, such bars also qualify as Investment Precious Metals for GST purposes.^[3]

The accreditation belongs to the refiner and, through it, to the bar. It does not extend to buildings. In the LBMA’s own words: “neither LBMA nor LPMCL ‘approve’ or ‘authorise’ vaults. Vaults are approved for use on a bi-lateral basis only, between the customer (e.g. LPMCL member) and the vault.”^[4][5] The LBMA does publish best-practice guidelines for vault operators, covering matters such as security, record keeping and bar handling. These are guidance for the market, and adherence to them does not confer approval or acceptance.^[6]

Terms sometimes seen in market materials — “LBMA-approved vault”, “LBMA-accredited vault”, “LBMA-accredited custodian”, “LBMA-accredited logistics provider”, “LBMA-accredited supply chain”, or “LBMA-only supply chain” — do not correspond to any category the LBMA maintains.

2. The “Chain of Integrity” and the Other Major Markets

London operates its own settlement system for gold and silver, known as Loco London, cleared through London Precious Metal Clearing Limited (LPMCL).^[9] Within that system, Good Delivery bars pass between participants without being re-tested each time. This is what the market calls the “chain of integrity”, and it is a useful feature of the London system: it keeps settlement quick and testing costs low for the participants in it.

That system is also, by design, local and bilateral. Loco London means metal physically held and settled in London;^[9] its vaults are located within the M25;^[7] its Approved Weigher status requires an LPMCL member as sponsor;^[8] and acceptance of any vault is, in the LBMA’s own words, a matter agreed “on a bi-lateral basis only, between the customer... and the vault”.^[4] These are the conditions for participating in the London settlement system.

Other major gold markets operate their own, separate arrangements. Metal delivered against CME Group (COMEX) futures must be held in a depository designated by CME Group and meeting CME Group’s own requirements,^[11] and the Shanghai Gold Exchange delivers into a network of Certified Vaults which it has itself established.^[12] Each market sets the conditions for entry into its own settlement process, and each is authoritative for that process.

Vaults also serve different functions. Some are built for settlement flow, where metal moves frequently between counterparties. Others are built for long-term custody, where it does not. Within a clearing system, participants may prefer established settlement counterparties, which is a matter of commercial preference.

Metal held outside a particular clearing system is not, for that reason, stranded, illiquid or unmarketable. Bullion is traded and stored in a number of centres.^[10]

3. Verification Rather Than Provenance

A settlement network of the London kind establishes confidence through provenance: metal is accepted because of the sequence of custodians that has held it. That works well inside the network it was built for, and it is the reason bars can move quickly between participants without being tested each time.

It is not, however, the only way to establish that a bar is what it claims to be. The alternative is measurement. A bar that has been tested is known to be genuine because of the test, not because of where it has been.

Silver Bullion’s approach rests on that second basis. Bullion is tested on intake using non-destructive methods, and we are working toward ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation for that testing. The result is a standard that is objective, auditable, and independent of which network a bar has previously passed through.

Clients and their advisers are welcome to examine the underlying documents rather than take any of this on trust. Our audit reports, insurance certificate and storage terms are published, and the sources below are linked to their originals.

Sources and References

Each point above is drawn from a published source. Click any item to see the relevant wording as published, with a link to the original. Sources accessed June–August 2026.

[1]  The LBMA accredits refiners; their conforming bars are Good Delivery bars.

[2]  The equivalent Good Delivery list for platinum and palladium is maintained by the LPPM.

[3]  IPM status and GST treatment in Singapore derive from refiner accreditation plus purity, form, and marking requirements.

[4]  Neither the LBMA nor the LPMCL approves or authorises vaults; vault acceptance is bilateral only.

[5]  A second LBMA page independently confirms: the LBMA does not approve physical vaults.

[6]  The LBMA’s vaulting guidelines are guidance only, not approval or accreditation.

[7]  Existing London vaults are located within the M25 — a geographic condition of the Loco London market.

[8]  Approved Weigher status requires an LPMCL member sponsor — a London-specific condition.

[9]  Loco London is a London-centred settlement and clearing system, cleared through LPMCL.

[10]  Bullion held outside London remains tradable; substantial liquidity exists beyond the London framework.

[11]  CME Group (COMEX) requires delivery metal to be held in its own designated depositories, which must meet the exchange’s requirements.

[12]  The Shanghai Gold Exchange delivers into a network of Certified Vaults which the Exchange has itself established.

All cited sources are publicly accessible; quotations are reproduced as published and were accessed in June–August 2026. This page will be updated as market standards develop.