There are no posters, placards or pre-election balls, but a historic vote is currently taking place to determine the fate of the 117 year-old silver fixing, which is set to come to an end on August 14.

A new method of setting benchmark silver prices is expected to be chosen during the next few weeks, following a poll among members of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) and input from regulators.

"The concept of the fix obviously needs to be updated," notes one London-based bank