Submitted by Ronan Manly, BullionStar.com
The second half of 2016 saw announcements by three exchange providers for plans to compete in the London Gold Market through offerings of exchange-traded London gold futures contracts.
London Gold Bullion Banks To "Open Vaults" In Transparency Push
London's gold bullion market, which is centuries old, is said to be seeking transparency with plans to reveal how much gold bullion is held in vaults in and around London city according to gold bullion banks. These include gold bullion bars held and controlled by the Bank of England, as reported by Henry Sanderson in the Financial Times.
Update: During a joint press conference with Irish leader Kenny, UK PM Theresa May confirms Trump's invite still stands...
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A petition to ban President Donald Trump from visiting The UK has now received over one million signatures and the UK parliament has just agreed to immediately hold a three-hour debate on the decision.
Since we posted yesterday the signature count has risen from 400,000 to 1.4 million...
Via The Daily Bell
On Friday, British Prime Minister Theresa May will become the first world leader to meet with Donald Trump since he was sworn in as U.S. President. The meeting breathes new life into the long-standing “special relationship” between the United States and Britain, with Mr. Trump already calling her “his Maggie,” drawing comparisons to the political bond forged between Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. -The Globe and Mail
The post-Brexit euphoria appears to have abruptly vanished in December as UK core retail sales plunged 2.0% month-over-month, the biggest drop since May 2011. Ironically, this crack in the 'Brexit Boom' occurred an hour before U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond told a Davos gathering on Friday that an inflation pickup will put a damper on consumers this year. Cable tumbled on the print (not helped by London home pre-sales plunging).