HSBC, Mitsui & Co Precious Metals and ScotiaMocatta were the first three confirmed participants in the new London Silver Price, launched Friday, the LBMA said.
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Register NowThe first new daily price was set at $19.86/oz, unchanged from the previous day's fix.
CME/Thomson Reuters was chosen July 11 by the market to supply the solution to the London silver price. CME Group will provide the electronic auction platform on which the price will be calculated, Thomson Reuters will be responsible for administration and governance and the LBMA will accredit price participants.
The new electronic auction process "increases transparency and the potential number of direct market participants," the LBMA said.
To increase transparency, daily trading volumes will be published.
The new silver price came about after it was decided that the London silver fix -- a benchmark price set by the London Silver Fixing Co. since 1897 -- would cease in its current form as of August 14 due to increased regulatory scrutiny.
In a statement Friday, the LBMA said that although the accreditation process was "undertaken quickly and efficiently, the tight schedule and time of year has imposed constraints on some potential participants meeting the August 15 deadline. This means that it was not possible to accredit all those who participated in the live trials and who are at various stages of satisfying the requirements for accreditation."
In an email to Platts, Courtney Lynn treasurer at silver producer Coeur said: "We are looking forward to seeing direct participation grow and hope to potentially become a direct participant ourselves down the road."
Price participants were required to secure internal sign-off on the necessary credit, legal, compliance and IT requirements, the LBMA said.
It added that it "fully expects the list of price participants will grow over the coming weeks as more participants meet the formal requirements to participate in the LBMA Silver Price." The new system "combines a robust and reliable pricing mechanism with strong governance, as well as transparency for all of its users," said Kris Carlson, global head of metals, Thomson Reuters, in a statement.
"It also aims to involve as many of those users as possible -- from miners to market makers. There is no fixed number of participants, and we look forward to welcoming many," Carlson added.
--Ben Kilbey, ben.kilbey@platts.com
--Edited by James Leech, james.leech@platts.com