"It will be hard to join the fix because there are lots of internal compliance issues. It might take months before we get everything done in-house," a trader from a global bullion bank said on the sidelines of the LBMA conference.

In a trial run for the fix in April, some foreign banks participated, as did many major Chinese banks.

While details of the fix are yet to be revealed, sources said it would be derived from a contract traded on the bourse, with the SGE acting as the central counterparty. That could make the process transparent, addressing one of the big concerns about the London fix.

The yuan fix is the most recent effort by SGE to boost China's position in the global gold market. The exchange opened an international bourse in September, allowing foreigners to trade yuan-denominated contracts for the first time.

Top domestic banks including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd and Bank of Communications Co are members of the international bourse, along with foreign banks such as the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Standard Chartered and HSBC, among others.