24 July 2026: Key Date for Gold Investors
24 JULY: KEY DATE FOR GOLD INVESTORS. A major regulatory enforcement action will come into effect on 24 July 2026 in China. Chinese mega-banks are officially shutting down all intermediary services for retail investors to trade leveraged and paper precious metals contracts linked to the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE). This action is being led by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)—the world’s largest bank by assets—alongside other state-owned giants like Postal Savings Bank of China, Ping An Bank, and China Guangfa Bank. • The Specific Targets: The ban completely turns off retail access to deferred delivery contracts like Au(T+D). These are the highly speculative, margin-funded instruments that allow ordinary retail investors to short or long gold using leverage through their mobile banking apps. • The Deadline Rule: After settlement on 24 July, retail traders can no longer open any new positions. Any remaining leveraged contracts must be manually closed out or taken to ...