PANews reported on October 22 that Peter Zoellner, the new chairman of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), called for the revival of gold futures trading in the UK, despite the failure of previous attempts to establish derivatives contracts on the $35 trillion in annual global physical gold trading capital. Zoellner stated that previous measures to launch gold futures contracts in London were premature, but added that having "two or three locations with good liquidity" would benefit the global gold market. He added that any decision would ultimately rest with the exchanges, which would structure and list such products. Gold trading in London is primarily conducted through bilateral "over-the-counter" physical transactions, and currently lacks a gold futures market. The London Metal Exchange (LME) launched a gold futures contract in 2017, but closed it five years later due to low trading volumes.