12:24, 18 сентября 2021, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Elena KHOKHLOVA
The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) has suspended Kyrgyzaltyn JSC from the LBMA Good Delivery List for failing to meet the requirements of the Responsible Sourcing Programme. Official statement of the association says.
The LBMA has stated in June that the 11-step Incident Review Process has been invoked for Kyrgyzaltyn in response to «issues concerning delivery and the potential for fraud».
The loss of accreditation will restrict Kyrgyzaltyn’s access to the mainstream market, because major banks that dominate precious metals trading tend to handle only metal from refineries on the LBMA’s Good Delivery list.
«With effect from today, 17 September 2021, Kyrgyzaltyn JSC has been suspended from the LBMA Good Delivery List for failing to meet the requirements of the Responsible Sourcing Programme,»
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that in May, when the Kumtor mine was seized, the state refinery disrupted the supply of almost half a metric tonne of gold to StoneX and allegedly tried to intercept about $29 million, which the seller was supposed to pay to Kumtor. This follows from reports of people familiar with the situation and documents submitted to the court by Centerra and StoneX.
According to StoneX, Kyrgyzaltyn sent an invoice to the seller, demanding to transfer the money to the account of Well Fargo — the clearly mistakenly named Wells Fargo & Co. This is confirmed by the testimony of some people and one of the documents presented to the court.
StoneX company sued the refinery for over $ 1 million in a London court to cover the costs it said it incurred in trading to hedge the gold trade. The London Bullion Market Association also started reviewing the allegations against the refinery.