It is often blithely asserted that precious metals have no interest rate. This is incorrect.
The rationale for lending and, particularly, borrowing metal will vary between gold, silver, platinum and palladium. However, very broadly speaking, lenders of metals will be seeking a return on their investment, whereas the borrowers will have a variety of motives. These can range from miners seeking to hedge future output to industrial companies borrowing platinum and palladium that will be turned into catalytic convertors before being installed in a petrochemical plant.
Clearly, the range of motivations is far wider than those listed above, but the calculation on deposits and leases remains the same.
For example, a fibreglass manufacturer wants to borrow 2,000 ounces of platinum for a year to use the metal in the industrial process. For illustrative purposes, if it is charged an interest rate of 4% and the day count is exactly 365, then the calculation for the interest owing at maturity is simply:
((2000 x 4%)/360) x 365 = 81.111 ounces
At maturity, the loan can be rolled over (depending on credit considerations), either with the existing lender or with another bank.
The lender has full credit exposure to the borrower over the amount of the loan – the currency value of which will fluctuate as the underlying metal price increases or decreases.
However, it is unlikely that the fibreglass manufacturer will have ready access to additional platinum (save by buying it) to repay the interest and may not be willing to accept the unquantifiable risk in being effectively short platinum for a year. Therefore, the loan is likely to be converted from one where interest is payable in metal to one where it is payable in currency – on the basis that a manufacturer is more likely to have access to currency than metal – at the spot price at inception.
Using the same numbers and example, a fibreglass manufacturer wants to borrow 2,000 ounces of platinum for a year to use the metal in the industrial process. For illustrative purposes, if it is charged an interest rate of 4%, the platinum price is $1000 per ounce and the day count is exactly 365, then the calculation for the interest owing at maturity is simply:
((2000 x $1000 x 4%)/360) x 365 = $81111.11
At maturity, the loan can be rolled over (depending on credit considerations), either with the existing lender or with another bank. The lender has full credit exposure to the borrower over the amount of the loan – the currency value of which will fluctuate as the underlying metal price increases or decreases. However, the manufacturer has certainty over the amount of interest owing at maturity – obviously, this could equally be priced in euros and so on.
Manufacture of fibreglass
The day count convention used in the above example calculation is known as actual/360 (actual over 360) – the total number of days for the loan divided by the theoretical length of a ‘year’. This applies for the metals whenever interest is to be paid in metal or in a currency and where the convention is for a 360-day year.
However, where interest is to be paid in a currency where there is a 365-day convention – in GBP (pounds sterling), AUD (Australian dollars) and ZAR (South African rand), for example – then the calculation becomes actual/365 (actual over 365).
It is perhaps worth noting that a leap year would not result in the theoretical length of a year increasing to 361 or 366 days (from the 360 and 365 date conventions mentioned above, respectively).
In a low interest rate environment, there is generally no difference in the rate as to whether the ultimate interest is to be paid in currency (US dollars as in the example above) or in the metal itself.
Indeed, it is unlikely that a fibreglass manufacturer would have the ability to pay 81.111 ounces of platinum in interest – it would also expose it to price movements in the value of platinum, which may well be undesirable from its point of view. Therefore, and as illustrated above, it is much simpler for the lender to translate the loan into USD equivalent and for the borrower to settle the interest charge in USD (or JPY, EUR, etc.). However, it is generally true that the principal – the 2,000 ounces in the example – will be repaid in metal.
The rationale, and impact on the rate levied, for whether interest is repayable in currency or commodity is dealt with later in this section.
The simple answer is that it’s not possible to lend allocated metal. Allocated metal is associated with specific bars in an account and, clearly, it is not possible to lend specific bars and expect to get the same ones back while receiving a return – in the same way that no one would be interested in a currency loan in which the requirement was to hand back the same banknotes as were originally lent.
Therefore, allocated metal becomes unallocated when it is lent but can be returned as allocated. Albeit, it will be returned with different bars and will likely be of a (slightly) different weight.
The single grouping with the greatest concentration of allocated metal is the world’s central banks and the stocks of gold that they hold. Some of this stock will be held domestically, some may be held in the Federal Reserve in New York, while a major proportion is likely to be held in the vaults of the Bank of England in London. Indeed, its vaults held in excess of 163 million ounces of gold, equivalent to some 5,080 tonnes, as of March 2017. For the latest data, please see the Bank of England’s website. It should be noted that all gold held in the Bank of England is allocated – no metal other than gold is held at the Bank.
One of the Bank of England gold vaults
The role of the Bank of England in the market is dealt with at greater length in section 12. However, one of the primary functions of the Bank is as a custodian for the UK Government, central banks and certain commercial firms. To reiterate from section 7, the Bank of England primarily offers gold accounts to central bank customers and to certain commercial firms that facilitate, either directly or indirectly, access for central banks to the liquidity of the London gold market.
As of July 2017, it has been calculated by the World Gold Council (using data from the International Monetary Fund’s International Financial Statistics) that the world’s central banks hold 33,399.2 tonnes of gold.
A listing appears in section 22. The most recent version of this data can be found on the World Gold Council’s website.
If a central bank wishes to lend its gold, it will source a deposit rate from a commercial bank and agree to lend the metal assuming the rate is acceptable. Implicit in this dialogue is that the central bank understands that it will not be returned the same gold bars that it lent out and that while it previously had no credit risk, with the metal having been held allocated at the Bank of England, it now has an exposure in the full amount of the deposit to the bank to which it lent the metal.
The earlier example of platinum and the fibreglass manufacturer is replicated for the calculation for a central bank lending gold to a commercial bank with the interest payable in metal – although this need not be the case and a central bank could equally request interest to be accrued in a currency of its choosing and specified at the outset of the transaction.
Assuming that the amount being lent is approximately 2 tonnes of allocated gold from the central bank’s account at the Bank of England for six months, with the interest to be paid in gold, then the calculation is:
((64,123.432 x 0.5%)/360) x 183 = 162.980
Therefore, the commercial bank will be looking to return principal of 64,123.432 ounces of gold plus the interest of 162.980 ounces – a total of 64,286.412 troy ounces.
However, while the borrowing bank will attempt (via its clearer) to get as close as possible to this amount, it is not always possible to return the precise amount in terms of bars (containing approximately 400 ounces of fine gold), as well as to three decimal places. Therefore, there are a number of ways in which this can be resolved – generally, this will take place two business days prior to the deposit maturing.
The central bank will requests an ‘overweight’. If the commercial bank cannot return the exact amount then the central bank would prefer to get bars of gold as close as possible to but in excess of 64,286.412 ounces. The additional gold being bought by the central bank from the commercial bank and often basis the benchmark LBMA Gold Price auction.
Alternatively, the central bank requests an ‘underweight’. If the commercial bank cannot return the exact amount then the central bank would prefer to get bars of gold as close as possible to but less than 64,286.412 ounces. The shortfall in gold being sold by the central bank to the commercial bank and often basis the benchmark LBMA Gold Price auction.
The central bank requests an overweight or an underweight but does not have the authority to buy or sell metal. If the commercial bank cannot return the exact amount then this conundrum will be resolved by utilising a ‘side account’ of unallocated gold that can either have a positive or negative balance on it. Hence, the total repaid to the allocated and unallocated accounts will be a net of 64,286.412 ounces of gold.
Clearly, the types of transactions in the previous section all have full principal credit risk – plus any accrued interest – on the borrower from the lender. Given the strains that full principal-to-principal exposure would put on balance sheets and risk limits, there are a number of structures that have grown up to mitigate this.
The most obvious are where there is an exchange of metal and currency – so called forwards, swaps, repos (repurchases) and so on. Given that these are considerably more efficient in maximising effective use of risk limits, these tend to be the structures that are used for day-to-day trading, notwithstanding the examples given earlier in this section.
For leases and deposits, there is only one underlying that is lent or borrowed and, hence, only one interest rate. In the following examples, there are two underlyings, metal and currency, and therefore two interest rates are involved. This is a familiar scenario to traders of foreign exchange, base metals and so on. However, in those markets, the ‘points’ (to adjust the spot price to a forward price) are quoted. Therefore, if the base price is 100, for example, and the ‘points’ are a premium of 2, then the forward price is 102.
However, the precious metal markets do not quote in this manner. Instead, the forward price is quoted as the net of the currency interest rate and the metal interest rate. For example, if a theoretical USD one-year interest rate was 10% for borrowing USD and 3% for lending gold then the gold swap rate would be 10% - 3% = 7% for one year. Clearly, these rates are enormously out of line with the current market low-rate environment, but in the interests of illustrative clarity, extreme off-market rates are being used in the examples.
In this instance, a one-year gold swap could be quoted as 7% to 8%. If a counterpart traded at 7% then the quoting bank would ‘sell and buy gold’ (or ‘lend’). On the other hand, if the institution requesting the quote traded at 8% then the bank making the price would ‘buy and sell’ gold (or ‘borrow’). The principal is the same across all four precious metals. Obviously, the day count conventions continue to apply.
In the first instance, the quoting bank trades gold at 7% where it sells and buys (lends) the metal:
Bank sells to its client 100,000 ounces of gold at $1200.00 value spot
Bank buys from its client 100,000 ounces of gold at $1285.167 value spot plus 365 days
The calculation for the price for one year forward is:
($1200 + (($1200 x 7%)/360) x 365) = $1200.00 + $85.167 = $1285.167
The convention is that the number of decimal places for the forward price is one more than in a normal spot price. So that while gold, platinum and palladium prices are quoted to two decimal places (cents in other words) in the spot market, the forward prices are adjusted to three decimal places. For silver, however, the spot quoting convention is to four decimal places (to the quarter of a cent per ounce) and, hence, the forward price is adjusted to five decimal places.
In the second instance, the quoting bank trades gold at 8% where it buys and sells (borrows) the metal:
Bank buys from its client 100,000 ounces of gold at $1,200 per troy ounce value spot
Bank sells to its client 100,000 ounces of gold at $1297.333 per troy ounce value spot plus 365 days
The calculation for the price for one year forward is:
($1200 + (($1200 x 8%)/360) x 365) = $1200 + $97.333 = $1297.333
In the previous example, the institutions were borrowing or lending metal, either because of business requirements or because they believe that metal interest rates would rise or fall and wished to transact their market view.
However, in the simplest case of a mining company wishing to sell gold today that will not be mined for another year then the calculation will be one-sided – an ‘outright forward’. For example, the miner will sell gold spot at $1,200 per troy ounce and then request for it to be ‘rolled’ for one year, with the day count 365. So the calculation, as above, is:
($1200 + (($1200 x 7%)/360) x 365) = $1200 + $85.167 = $1285.167
The ore stockpile at AngloGold Ashanti’s Cerro Vanguardia operation in Argentina
The volatile spot market tends to change rapidly, whereas the forward interest rate is likely to stay the same during the time that the transaction is being quoted. Hence, market convention is generally for the spot price to be quoted and then rolled, rather than an outright forward price to be requested – although the swap/forward interest rate will normally be agreed in advance of the transaction.
Although most of the examples that have been given are for gold, these conventions apply across all four metals.
These are swaps that start on a future date – rather than spot – and can be for any period. For example, a ‘3s 9s’ or ‘3 x 9’ would be for a six-month swap starting in three months’ time and maturing in nine months.
However, it is worth noting that the front price, i.e. the basis price for the swap, would not be the spot price but instead the three-month outright forward price – as calculated in the section above.
For good order’s sake, it is worth mentioning that a six-month swap starting in three months is likely to be a different rate from a six-month swap out of spot.
In order to facilitate short-term adjustments to dealers’ forward books or to clients’ positions, swap rates are available in the market for short periods close to the spot value date. These ‘short-dated’ swaps are generally available for the following periods:
It is important to appreciate that there is no lender of last resort in the precious metals markets. Dealers offering clearing services will therefore usually finalise their short-term metal liquidity position one day in advance. As a result, customers should not depend on being able to borrow metal on an ‘overnight’ (today until the next business day) basis.
Delivery of currency and metal is effected on the so-called ‘spot date’ for the first leg of the swap/forward transaction. Excluding public holidays, it means that a trade entered into on a Monday will settle on a Wednesday and a trade entered into on a Friday will not settle until the following Tuesday. Forward transactions will be quoted, unless specified to the contrary, from the spot date to the requested date.
As raised in section 4, while there must be two good London business days between trade date and spot, if a US holiday falls between the trade date and what would otherwise be the good spot date from the London holiday schedule, the US holiday is generally ignored. It is worth noting though that metal will not settle on US holidays.
Sometimes it can be the case that certain institutions will prefer to have two clear business days in each of London and New York to ensure that there is sufficient time for both currency and metal to settle. Therefore, it is worth clarifying with the quoting institution to ensure that any possibility of confusion in minimised.
The forward date of the transaction will need to be a good business day in London and New York. If it is not then it will be rolled forward to the next business day in both centres. Unless this means that the settlement date would fall into a new month. In which case the ‘End End convention’ applies.
Value dates for standard forward quotations are at calendar monthly intervals from spot. This means that if on 1 January, 3 January is the spot date, then the one-month date will be 3 February. Should that day be a non-business day (in either the metal or currency clearing centre), the value will be for the next good business day in both centres so that the date moves forward.
This is invariably the case except at month end, when the value date will be kept in the same month, which reflects the number of months being quoted for. For example, if one calendar month forward is 30 September and that falls on a Sunday, the one-month value date will be brought back to Friday 28 September.
If dealing spot for value 28 February (in a non leap year) and transacting a one-month trade then the maturity date should be 31 March. However, it may be sensible to clarify this is the case to avoid any confusion.
In the forward market, subject to credit limits, London’s Market Makers/Full Members quote for at least 50,000 fine ounces for gold swaps versus US dollars, and for at least one million ounces of silver up to one year. In respect of platinum and palladium, the minimum quote is for 5,000 ounces.
Gold is almost invariably a ‘contango’ market. Silver is generally a contango, and platinum and palladium vary between contango and backwardation.
In the examples above, the currency interest rate was above that of the gold interest rate. Hence, the swap figure – the net of the currency and metal interest rates – was positive. In turn, this means that the forward price is greater than the spot price, which is the definition of a contango market.
Clearly, then, a backwardation is the opposite – where the forward price is below the spot price. The calculations are exactly the same with the swap rate as the net of the currency and metal interest rates.
To partly rework the gold example used earlier in this section for PGMs, if a theoretical USD one-year interest rate was 10% for borrowing USD and 14% for lending platinum, then the platinum swap rate would be 10% - 14% = -4% for one year. Clearly, these rates are enormously out of line with the current market low-rate environment, but in the interests of clarity, extreme off-market rates are once more being used.
In this instance, a one-year platinum swap could be quoted as -4% to -3% (so the lower number is always quoted first). If a counterpart traded at -4% then the quoting bank would sell and buy platinum – in other words, lend metal. On the other hand, if the institution requesting the quote traded at -3% then the bank making the price would buy and sell platinum – in other words, borrow metal.
In the first instance, the quoting bank lends platinum at -4% where it sells and buys the metal:
Bank sells to its client 10,000 ounces of platinum at $1000 per troy ounce value spot
Bank buys from its client 10,000 ounces of platinum at $959.444 per troy ounce value spot plus 365 days
The calculation for the price for one-year forward is:
($1000 + (($1000 x -4%)/360) x 365) = $1000 + -$40.556 = $959.444
In the second instance, the quoting bank borrows platinum at -3% where it buys and sells the metal:
Bank buys from its client 10,000 ounces of platinum at $1000 per troy ounce value spot
Bank sells to its client 10,000 ounces of platinum at $969.583 per troy ounce value spot plus 365 days
The calculation for the price for one-year forward is:
($1000 + (($1000 x -3%)/360) x 365) = $1000 + -$30.417 = $969.583
Interest rates for currencies are generally determined by a combination of the actions of the relevant monetary authorities plus the transactions of key players in the global financial markets.
For precious metals, the scenario is somewhat different in that there are no monetary authorities that seek to set, or even influence, interest rates for precious metals. Hence, supply and demand tend to be the overwhelming defining factors. For gold, the perception is that there are sufficient above-ground stocks (mainly those owned by central banks) to prevent metal rates spiking above those for the US dollar and so gold is almost inevitably in contango.
The PGMs (platinum and palladium are, as throughout this Guide, the PGMs referred to) are primarily industrial metals. There are very few above-ground stocks and, hence, there can be a premium required for immediate delivery – if needed to create catalytic convertors for the auto industry, for example. Therefore, depending on market circumstances, it is not unusual for platinum and palladium to trade in a backwardation.
Silver, being a form of hybrid in having industrial uses as well as being a widely desired investment, generally spends more time than gold in backwardation but less time than platinum and palladium.
Given the predominance of swaps being traded, rather than deposits or leases, due to their more advantageous credit treatment, it is these transactions that will determine the overall level of metal interest rates.
Earlier in this section, it was mentioned that in a low interest rate environment, there would be little, if any, difference on whether interest is paid in metal or in currency. However, this is not the case in an environment where interest rates are high for currencies but low for metals – in other words, when there is a large contango (greater premium for forward rather than spot sales).
Central Bank lends Commercial Bank 100,000 ounces of gold at 0.50% for 12 months.
The interest earned in gold would be:
((100,000 x 0.5%)/360) x 365 = 506.944 ounces
If this was monetised at the spot price of $1200 for example, then the central bank would receive $1200 x 506.944 = $608332.80 in interest at maturity.
However, by the same token, the central bank would know that in 12 months’ time it would be receiving 506.944 ounces of gold as interest. Therefore, instead it could elect to sell that gold on an outright forward basis. Continuing to assume rates that are enormously out of line with the current market environment for purely illustrative purposes, then if the 12-month rate for USD deposits is 10%, this would give a theoretical swap rate of 9.5% (10% minus the cost of borrowing gold, which is 0.5% in this example). Thus, the central bank could sell the 506.944 ounces of gold at:
($1200 + (($1200 x 9.5%)/360) x 365) = $1200 + $115.583 = $1315.583
This would then equate to 506.944 x $1315.583 = $666926.91 in interest – an increase of $58594.11 (being $666926.91 minus $608332.80) for an identical trade except for the basis on which the interest earned would be paid. Hence, deposit and lease rates will differ in more extreme rate environments depending on whether interest is to be paid in metal or currency.
Due to the relative paucity of data, there are no options on precious metal interest rates themselves.
Clearly, gold, silver, platinum and palladium are all traded metals. It is an important distinction that it is not unallocated or allocated metal that is traded, but the metal itself
A primary function of the LPPM is its involvement in the promotion of refining standards by maintenance of the LPPM Good Delivery List and a regime of Proactive Monitoring
