The amount of gold held in London vaults as of end-August 2021 hit a record high of 9,718 tonnes (+0.87% on previous month), valued at $567 billion, which equates to approximately 777,460 gold bars, according to recent data from the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA).
There were also 36,567 tonnes of silver (-0.06% on previous month), valued at $28.3 billion, which equates to approximately 1,218,908 silver bars.
LBMA noted that these figures provide an important insight into London’s ability to underpin the physical OTC market.
The data represents the holdings of six custodians offering vaulting services (all of which are LBMA members). They comprise three security carriers (Brinks, Malca-Amit and Loomis International Ltd) and three clearing banks (HSBC, ICBC Standard Bank and JP Morgan). Also included are the gold holdings held at the Bank of England (not an LBMA member) which offers gold (but not silver) custodial services to central banks and certain commercial firms that facilitate central bank access to the liquidity of the London gold market.