According to the Intercontinental Exchange, gold futures will be available for trading on the ICE from February 2017. The change will concern physical gold held in London. New futures contracts will be added to the present precious metal market. The ICE also reported that central clearing for its own IBA Gold Auction will be adopted in March 2017. “Central clearing during the auction will allow the number of diverse direct participants to continue to grow,” said Ruth Crowell, LBMA chief executive. The London gold auction takes place two times a day and sets the benchmark LBMA gold price. Its participation count has increased to thirteen from four last year. Earlier, London Metal Exchange planned to launch futures and spot contracts for gold in the first half of the next year.