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* Process to choose new gold 'fix' operator to start lateAugust
* Time needed to see how new silver fix unfolds
LONDON, July 29 (Reuters) - The operator of the gold price'fix' said on Tuesday the process to find a new administratorfor the century-old benchmarking system will last one month fromlate August, and will be working by the end of 2014.
The London Gold Market Fixing Ltd (LGMFL), along with theLondon Bullion Market Association (LBMA), said in a statementthat the choice will be announced in late September, as bankseffectively call time on the current process.
A similar process to find a new price benchmarkadministrator recently took place in the silver market. Thatyielded an electronic auction mechanism, seen by dealers as alikely solution to other precious metals. It will replace adaily conference call with three banks from August 15.
The statement said time was needed first to sort out the newsilver benchmark.
Regulators across Europe, the United States and Asia havescrutinised financial benchmarking processes following the Libormanipulation case in 2012.
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), which won the contestto administer the silver benchmark, jointly with ThomsonReuters, was the first to confirm its interest in bidding tooperate the gold process too.
But the search for the new gold administrator will not berestricted to the companies that bid to replace the silverbenchmark, which included the London Metal Exchange (LME) andU.S. derivatives exchange Intercontinental Exchange among others.
The LGMFL has just appointed a supervisory committee tooversee the benchmark that is made up of compliance officers atthe four banks currently setting the twice-daily auction processover the telephone.
Other changes that the company is seeking to achieve willinclude a new code of conduct for participants and theappointment of an independent chairperson.
Bank of Nova Scotia, HSBC, SocieteGenerale, and Barclays, making up the LGMFL, operate the gold fixing. Deutsche Bank withdrew inMay after two decades. (Reporting by Clara Denina and Jan Harvey, editing by WilliamHardy)
