GOLD PRICE MANIPULATION

6th June 2014 By: Darlene Creamer

GOLD PRICE MANIPULATION

Barclays Bank trader Daniel Plunkett, 36, saved Barclays £2.3-million ($3.9-million) by deliberately pushing the gold price down on June 28, 2012, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has found. The slap-on-the-wrist fine of £26-million for gold-price manipulation is simply insufficient retribution on Barclays plc, which controls South Africa’s Absa Bank. For any credibility to be restored, full transparency needs to be introduced so that honesty can be seen to take place in the determination of the gold price, which impacts on the lives of so many in South Africa, including mineworkers, who risk their lives daily in dangerous circumstances. A sufficient number of concerns have arisen to warrant a far more comprehensive investigation followed by a guarantee of complete openness.