Private Gold Storage “Increasingly Difficult” in the U.S. Says World-Leading Gold Ownership Service
April 28th, 2007WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument.
BullionVault makes it too easy for individuals to take their fiat funny money out of circulation, and that has obviously caused discomfort somewhere in the nether realms. Why would Brinks drop a client as large as BullionVault without providing any reason for it? It can’t be because Brinks is afraid of money laundering, since BullionVault authoritatively confirms each client’s identity and requires all fiat cash transactions to occur via the client’s bank account.
This news hits as the U.S. Dollar is trading at record lows vs. the euro.
I’m sure that you can do the math on this yourself.
Via: PRweb:
BullionVault.com to switch all international storage from U.S. to Swiss control.
London (PRWEB) April 27, 2007 — Commercial gold storage is becoming increasingly difficult to secure in the United States, said BullionVault.com — the world-leading gold ownership service — today.
We would have stayed with Brinks if we could have found a way to do so
The company was recently told by its U.S. owned vault operators that they no longer wished to continue with a long-term gold storage agreement.
“Although we will continue to operate New York storage, as well as London and Zurich, we will switch the vaulting of all our customers’ gold bullion to a Swiss company within the next month,” said Paul Tustain, founder and director of BullionVault.com.
BullionVault previously vaulted with Brinks Inc., the $3-billion U.S. security firm headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.
“We would have stayed with Brinks if we could have found a way to do so,” said Tustain. “We have been very happy with their service.”
Forced to look elsewhere, however, “we have been delighted to negotiate and sign a stronger and longer-term contract with ViaMat International,” he said.
“Our clients have already chosen to hold 26 times as much gold in Zurich as they do in New York. So the move to a Swiss-owned operator is a perfectly natural development.”
Launched in April 2005, BullionVault.com saw its customers double their holdings of gold bullion stored in Zurich during the six months to April.
In the first quarter of this year, total holdings across BullionVault’s Zurich, London and New York vault locations increased by 15 per cent, growing by more than 185 per cent from a year earlier.
Related: BullionVault
Related: Money: Going Tactical
Good for BullionVault, this was a smart move.
In other news – e-gold seems to be getting shut down, or at least the Gov’t is trying. e-gold has been in operation for over 10 years and is loved and used by millions of people.
The excuse is it’s being used by “scammers, pedophiles, and terrorists”. Nice, very convenient.
Read more: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-bk-brevardmoney042707,0,5539803.story?coll=orl-home-headlines
one thing i find counter intuitive here kevin, is that you track the high likelyhood of a meltdown situation, yet feel it’s fine to have assets stored offshore? this is why i made the ‘zurich seems like a long swim to get your assets’ comment. if all you really have is an internet connection to bullionvault, where does your security lie? is there a level of assumed trust for delivery or is it a liquidation mechanism with a cash out payment? both of which seem likely to fail in a minor crunch let alone a major one. please forgive the bluntness of the question, i just find it an interesting dichotomy.
Hi Bob, yes, the swim to Zürich for the gold issue.
1) Diversification of assets and locations is always good, in my opinion.
2) I’m not holding much gold. I’m using it as a hedge against some cash. I’m more of a gold trader/cash hedger than a gold hoarder.
3) In extreme circumstances, Bullion Vault would allow clients to receive fiat money payouts in different banks than the original linked account.
See Paul Tustain’s email to me on this issue:
https://cryptogon.com/?p=525
In a hard crash, I don’t see the point of gold, physical possession or otherwise. Who’s going to be making a market in gold under those circumstances? HA But we’ve already been through this on the links above. Stockpiling pallets of booze, fencing wire and nails makes more sense for a hard crash than hoarding gold.
I’m in the booze, wire, nails and .223 camp myself.
While we’re back to the end of the world scenario, (not trying to hijack here, so if too off topic no hard feelings if you don’t post this one Kevin)
Does anyone have any suggestions on a practical guide that covers medical issues past advanced first aid?
I’m thinking along the lines of something you’d take into the middle of the amazon if you’re a missionary and you expect to be cut off for months or maybe if you’re bugging out into the Alaskan bush.
Thanks
“Where There Is No Doctor”, by David Werner.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FWhere-There-Doctor-David-Werner%2Fdp%2F0333516516&tag=cryptogoncom-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325
Thanks, I knew there was a book like that that kept showing up. Have you read it? It looks like the ticket. Is it all its advertised?
Thanks again,
It is a good book for 3rd world-level medicine, the kind of thing you’d want for a year in the bush or missionary duty. It is, however, a bit basic for those with advanced medical skill, knowledge, or experience (which isn’t me). Worth the price.
@ tito,
I also have “Where There Is No Doctor,” and I’d recommend it too.