Reuters reported that on Friday, Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE:DB) said it is leaving the group of banks that sets benchmarks for gold and silver prices.

Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), which recently started looking into the rate-setting process for both metals, has not commented on Deutsche Bank’s decision.

As quoted in the market news:

Allegations that currencies and precious metals are being manipulated are particularly serious, Bafin President Elke Koenig said on Thursday, because such reference values are typically based on real transactions in liquid markets, and not on estimates of the banks such as for LIBOR and Euribor.

‘It’s understandable that this topic is making big waves,’ she said in a speech. ‘Markets depend on the trust of the wider public that they are performing and that they work honestly.’

Click here to read the full Reuters report.

Click here to read Silver Investing News’ December article on BaFin’s investigation.