Changing Century-Old World Silver Fix Was Just the Start

Ruth Crowell had been in her job just four months when two of her industry’s century-old traditions began to crumble.

First, Crowell would have to guide the modernization of how the precious-metals industry sets a worldwide silver price, a process instituted in 1897. Then she would guide changes in the 95-year-old method of fixing gold prices. This was an unprecedented reshuffling. It fell to the 34-year-old American, who’d risen in seven years from a post as a temporary worker at the London Bullion Market Association to become the international trade group’s first female chief executive in January, to ensure the transition went smoothly.