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* New administrator, chairperson sought for gold fix
* Gold fixing company launches request for proposals
* New process put in place for silver fix last week (Releads, adds background, detail)
By Jan Harvey and Clara Denina
LONDON, July 16 (Reuters) - London Gold Market Fixing Ltd,the company operating the century-old global price benchmarkknown as the "fix", said it is seeking a third party to takeover administration of the process, possibly signalling a moveto an electronic platform.
The company, working on behalf of gold fixing banks Barclays, HSBC, Societe Generale, and Bank ofNova Scotia, said it had launched a request forproposal (RFP) process with a view to appointing a newadministrator for the benchmark, supported by the London BullionMarket Association (LBMA).
"It is sensible to say that based on the feedback receivedfor the silver alternative, the reformed gold system will alsobe electronic, auditable and transaction-based," an LBMAspokesman said.
A similar process to find a new price benchmark recentlytook place in the silver market. That yielded an electronicauction mechanism to replace a daily conference call with justthree banks.
The gold fix, along with other financial benchmarks, hasbeen under increasing regulatory glare in the wake of the Liborrate-rigging scandal. Detractors have criticised the process asbeing vulnerable to manipulation.
Changes to the current gold "fix", a twice-daily auctionbetween four banks that takes place over the telephone, willinclude a new code of conduct for participants and theappointment of an independent chairperson, the statement said.
It confirmed information from a source familiar with thematter earlier on Wednesday.
"There has been a call for a certain amount of third-partyengagement and oversight ... the industry wants that to be donein a transparent way," the source said.
CME Group and Thomson Reuters were lastweek named as the new operators of the electronic silverbenchmark that will also include an increased number ofparticipants, in a move that was widely seen preceding sweepingreforms of precious metals price-setting.
The LBMA acted as a facilitator in the process to find newgovernance for the silver market and a source close to thematter said it would now be open to consider administering thegold benchmark itself.
"The LBMA did a very good job in the way in which theylooked at the methodology (for) silver," Jonathan Spall of GCubed Metals Ltd, which conducted an independent review for theLBMA as part of the selection process, told the Reuters GlobalGold Forum on Wednesday.
"The market was engaged throughout the process ... If thegold market decides to go a similar route then it is a prettygood plan to follow. I believe it has legitimacy by having suchwidespread involvement."
The scrutiny by regulators across Europe and the UnitedStates on financial benchmarking processes started at individualbanks after the Libor manipulation case in 2012, for which firmshave been fined billions of dollars.
Appearing before the UK Treasury Select Committee earlierthis month, David Bailey, head of markets infrastructure andpolicy at the Financial Conduct Authority, said collusion amongbanks in setting the gold price benchmark was possible but thereis no evidence of this.
And although market participants view many aspects of theexisting gold process favourably, reforms still need to complywith the 19 principles on financial benchmarks outlined in July2013 by the International Organization of Securities Commissions(IOSCO), an umbrella body of market regulators.
The first phase of the IOSCO principles, which allbenchmarks should follow, ends in July.
IOSCO has six months to decide if any further action isappropriate, based on the take-up of the benchmarkadministrators to these principles, a source close to theregulator said. (Reporting by Jan Harvey and Clara Denina, editing by DavidEvans and Veronica Brown)
