Suspending agency services, raising margin ratios: multiple banks tighten personal precious metals business.

Our Reporter Peng Yan

Recently, multiple banks have intensively issued announcements on adjustments to personal precious metals businesses, taking tightening measures such as discontinuing agency businesses and raising margin ratios. Compared with previous years, the industry-wide control this year has been significantly intensified.

Experts interviewed said that banks raising margin ratios and discontinuing agency businesses can both reduce retail investors' trading leverage, implement regulatory requirements, and lower their own non-performing loan risks. Ordinary investors can choose non-leveraged products such as accumulative gold, physical gold, gold exchange-traded open-ended securities investment funds (hereinafter referred to as 'gold ETFs'), precious metals themed funds, etc., and treat gold as a long-term asset allocation target, avoiding short-term speculation.

Controls Upgraded Again

In recent years, banks have been continuously tightening personal precious metals agency businesses on the Shanghai Gold Exchange, from risk warnings and suspending new customer account opening, to orderly clearing existing customers, and now to fully discontinuing agency businesses, with control efforts continuously increasing.

On June 24, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China issued an announcement stating that starting from the end-of-day settlement on July 24, 2026 (Friday), the bank will discontinue the agency personal precious metals bidding trading business on the Shanghai Gold Exchange, involving contract varieties including Au99.99, Au100g, Au99.95, PGC30g, Au(T+D), mAu(T+D), Ag(T+D), Au(T+N1), Au(T+N2), etc. After the settlement on that day, the bank will, at a selected time, close the trading permissions for agency personal bidding trading business through channels such as mobile banking, online banking, and branch counters. After closure, the closing, selling, and delivery operating permissions for holding customers will be restricted. ICBC suggests that existing holding customers promptly conduct selling, closing, or delivery operations for their various bidding trading contracts through channels such as mobile banking, online banking, and branch counters, and handle the withdrawal of remaining funds in margin accounts. For the remaining funds in margin accounts of customers with no positions, no inventory, and no debts, the bank will uniformly handle batch withdrawal operations on their behalf subsequently.

ICBC is not the first bank to fully discontinue agency personal precious metals bidding trading business on the Shanghai Gold Exchange.

On June 10, Ping An Bank announced that it will close the trading permissions for spot contracts (Au99.99 and Au100g) of the agency personal precious metals trading business on the Shanghai Gold Exchange after the closing settlement on June 30, 2026 (the deadline), including spot selling transactions.

On June 22, China Guangfa Bank issued an announcement stating that to strengthen risk management and protect investor rights, the bank plans to fully discontinue the agency personal precious metals trading business on the Shanghai Gold Exchange by the end of June this year.

In addition, Postal Savings Bank of China has previously announced the full discontinuation of agency personal precious metals related businesses on the Shanghai Gold Exchange.

In addition to discontinuing agency businesses, multiple banks have also simultaneously raised margin ratios for personal precious metals deferred contract trading.

Since June, nearly ten banks including Huaxia Bank, China Guangfa Bank, and Bank of China have successively issued announcements adjusting relevant standards, with some banks raising margin ratios to 140%.

Gao Zhengyang, a special researcher at Suzhou Bank, told Securities Daily that the core of banks significantly tightening precious metals businesses is to prevent and control risks and protect investors. Within the year, gold and silver prices have experienced sharp fluctuations at high levels, and leveraged deferred contracts are very likely to cause forced liquidation and negative account balances. Even if margin is continuously increased, it is difficult to eliminate overnight slippage and account negative values and non-performing loans caused by concentrated forced liquidation. Coupled with the previous rise in gold prices attracting many retail investors to enter the market, market risks are accumulating. Banks' contraction of high-leverage businesses in accordance with investor suitability management regulations not only implements regulatory requirements but also stabilizes their own operations and protects small and medium investors.

Alternatives such as Accumulative Gold Are Available

After banks fully suspend leveraged personal precious metals agency trading, ordinary investors still have multiple low-risk compliant channels to allocate gold assets. Industry experts suggest that investors abandon short-term speculation ideas, prioritize non-leveraged precious metals products and hold them long-term.

Du Juan, a senior researcher at Suzhou Bank, told Securities Daily that ordinary investors with average risk tolerance are more suitable for allocating bank precious metals products with gentle fluctuations and no leverage, including gold accumulation, gold dollar-cost averaging, physical gold, account paper gold, as well as gold-linked structured deposits and precious metals exclusive wealth management. These products do not have the risk of forced liquidation or losses exceeding margin. Even if gold prices correct significantly, investor losses are controllable.

Gao Zhengyang believes that investors can differentiate their allocation based on their own needs: those seeking long-term value preservation and inflation hedging can focus on bank gold accumulation and physical gold bars; investors accustomed to flexible trading in securities accounts can choose on-exchange gold ETFs and publicly offered precious metals themed funds. At the same time, gold is only suitable as a supplement to family asset allocation. Avoid heavy positions, do not frequently trade with a short-term arbitrage mentality, and need to rationally allocate with the goal of long-term value preservation.

Lou Feipeng, a researcher at Postal Savings Bank of China, told Securities Daily that after the full withdrawal of banks' leveraged precious metals agency businesses, accumulative gold, physical gold, gold ETFs, and precious metals funds are high-quality choices for ordinary investors. Investors should select suitable products based on their own capital cycles and risk tolerance, reasonably position the investment value of precious metals, and regard them as long-term risk hedging tools rather than short-term speculative targets for price differences.

(Editor: Qian Xiaorui)

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