South Africa’s reintegration into global financial markets in the second half of the 1990’s together with the gradual relaxation of exchange controls paved the way for changes to the country’s gold-trading arrangements. The key role that the South African Reserve Bank had played in the marketing of gold changed significantly when the South African government liberalised the procedures for trading gold at the end of 1997. South Africa’s reintegration into global financial markets in the second half of the 1990’ s together with the gradual relaxation of exchange controls paved the way for changes to the country’s gold-trading arrangements. The key role that the South African Reserve Bank had played in the marketing of gold changed significantly when the South African government liberalised the procedures for trading gold at the end of 1997.