Clampdown on market rigging

Key benchmarks in the financial markets, including significant foreign exchange rates, the London Gold Fixing and the price of Brent crude will be subjected to strict regulation from April next year.

The clampdown comes in the wake of the Libor scandal, over the attempted rigging of interbank interest rates.

The Chancellor has confirmed a list of 7 indicators -- in addition to Libor -- where manipulation will be formally banned.

Those found guilty of manipulating these benchmarks would face up to 7 years in prison.

The full list, recommended by the official Fair and Effective Markets Review in September includes:

*The WM/Reuters 4pm London Fix, which is the dominant global foreign exchange benchmark

*The Sterling Overnight Index Average (SONIA) and the Repurchase Overnight Index Average (RONIA), which both serve as reference rates for overnight index swaps;

*The ISDAFix, which is the principal global benchmark for swap rates and spreads for interest rate swap transactions;

*The London Gold Fixing and the LMBA Silver Price, which determine the price of gold and silver in the London market; and

*The ICE Brent index, which acts as the crude oil market's principal financial benchmark.

The financial watchdog, the FCA, will consult on the detail of the new rules over the next few weeks.

Clegg on gold

This is what Nick Clegg just said about City investment funds needing to give up on gold and put their money (i.e. people's pension money and savings) in big infrastructure projects instead:

"I expect Lord Green* and his team to be as active in making sure that funds in this country which have got significant resources don't just either sit on the money or invest it - for the sake of argument - in safe assets like gold and explain to them why infrastructure investment is a sensible thing for them to do for a return on their own funds.

*Trade and Investment Minister

How can a gold dealer raise its offer by 50%?

The Office of Fair Trading is clamping down on companies which offer cash for your gold. Here's an example.

Mark Turner was tempted by an advert from Postal Gold, in which the firm promised to send him money in exchange for his unwanted gold jewellery.

To check the prices he had been given, we took him to a London jeweller who looked back at gold values when Mark struck his deal more than a year ago.

His haul added up to 32g, for which he was offered £106. The jeweller said he would have paid £224.

In fact, Mark hadn't been satisfied with the initial quote. He complained and Postal Gold reacted by upping its offer to £160.

"It was astounding," he said. If they could increase the price by so much, what were they doing with the first quote?

His girlfriend's spare gold weighed in at 36g, for which they were offered £71. Our jeweller said his price would have been £252.

A year ago, when he phoned to ask for more, the price rose to £109, another 50% jump. Postal Gold told him they had "reduced their fee" to improve the prices.

Mark Turner's opinion now is that a fee of that size is "unacceptable". But all those months ago, he needed the money so he agreed to sell.

He rues the day.

"Be incredibly careful," he warns. And, if possible, get a second opinion.

How to raise £627,000 for charity

64 year-old jeweller, Nicholas Mullings, has managed this amazing feat by sifting through packets of discarded trinkets in search of gold.

For 17 years, he has given up his Saturdays to sort out packets for the Alzheimer's Society. In an average year he will sort through 10,000 of them.

I met this remarkable man while filming in his shop near Westminster, where he has served Prime Minsters and film stars since 1965.

It's called the Old Jewellery Appeal. The idea came from the charity itself, but Nicholas gave it a vital twist.

"They wanted to ask for the good stuff," he tells me, "But I told them to ask for the plonk."

He shows me bags of unwanted bits and bobs, ready to be sorted.

There are a few interesting trophies. Nicholas hands me a little grey ball which is inscribed with "Kimberley Siege 1899-1900".

"It's probably a Boer bullet," he says.

Often, Nicholas clocks up 12 hours of work on a Saturday, hunting for gold to be melted down and sold. And sometimes he puts in a Sunday as well.

How does he manage it? Well, he makes plenty of spare time for himself - by being economical with sleep.

"I get up at 3.30am every day," he reveals, "And I'm in work before six during the week."

Pinned to the wall in the shop is a cheque from Mrs Thatcher. It's a funny one because the bank got its printing wrong, calling her Maragaret Lady Thatcher.

She's another one who never seemed to need any shut-eye.

Anyway, Nicholas's painstaking work has raised £627,610, so far. It's a wonderful achievement.