BullionStar Blogs

The Bank of England’s Revealing Views On Gold in 1988

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• Ronan Manly
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Below is an interesting 1988 discussion paper on gold, written by Bank of England staff. The original paper can be found in pdf here. The United Kingdom’s gold reserves belong to HM Treasury (HMT) and are held in the Exchange Equalisation Account (EEA), but managed by the Bank of England on behalf of HMT. The discussion paper … Continue Reading

Swiss Gold Refineries and the Sale of Valcambi

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• Ronan Manly
• 6 Comments

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The normally low-key Swiss gold refining market has been thrown into the spotlight with the announcement that private company Valcambi, the world’s largest gold refinery, is being acquired by Indian group Rajesh Exports Ltd (REL), the world’s largest gold jewellery manufacturer. This acquisition is worth analysing for a number of reasons, namely will the Valcambi-Rajesh... Continue Reading

The Misinterpretation of Money

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• BullionStar
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In its simplest form, money is a substitution for barter to make trade more efficient (formally: medium of exchange) but money is also a means for generating production by allowing for saving and investment (store of value) and for accounting and reconciliation (unit of account). Different economic schools view money differently. Even for the doctrines advocating … Continue Reading

Analyzing PBOC Official Gold Reserves Increment

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• Koos Jansen

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As always, please make sure you’ve read The Mechanics Of The Chinese Domestic Gold Market before continuing. Finally last Friday the People’s Bank Of China (PBOC) updated its official gold reserves, from 1,054 tonnes, a figure reported since 2009, to 1,658 tonnes. Most gold analysts expected a number substantially higher than what was just disclosed. In this … Continue Reading

Paper vs. Physical Gold & Silver in Times of Crisis

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• BullionStar
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The Past Fortnight It has been a tense, volatile and dramatic fortnight to say the least. In fickle fashion, Greece went from ‘No!’ to ‘Yes!’ with the terms of the deal seemingly less in their favour then before. In volatile fashion, the Shanghai Composite Index crashed and “recovered" when the Chinese government tighten margin requirements for … Continue Reading

Gold Price & Gold Demand

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• BullionStar
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This interview with Torgny Persson and Gustav Andersson from BullionStar was conducted by the Singaporean blogger SG Wealth Builder 8 July 2015. Question: In view of the emergence of China as the leading producer and importer of gold bullion, what do you think would be the implications for the global markets and how should investors in … Continue Reading

China Rapidly Changing International Gold Market

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• Koos Jansen

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Since 2007 China has the largest domestic gold mining output, since 2011 the Shanghai Gold Exchange has been the largest physical gold exchange and in 2013 and 2014 China was the largest importer. Now the Chinese seek to escalate pricing power. From the beginning of the liberalization of China’s gold market in 2002, the governor … Continue Reading

How Much Are Chinese Gold Reserves?

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• Koos Jansen

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There has been much speculation about a slide from chairman and secretary-general of the China Gold Association Zhang Bingnan presented at the LBMA forum in Shanghai June 25, 2015. The slide states Chinese gold reserves are 9,816.03 tonnes, however, this refers to in ground mining reserves. I have never received so many emails and tweets as … Continue Reading

Oxi (No) is the Vote; Increased Demand For Gold

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• BullionStar
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PRESS RELEASE 6th July 2015 For immediate release Singapore: Demand for physical gold has increased significantly in the last week leading up to the Greek referendum and is expected to continue to increase following Sunday’s outcome of the referendum with 61 % voting No. Mr. Torgny Persson, CEO of BullionStar Pte Ltd says: ”Demand for … Continue Reading

Global Financial Turmoil, Gold Price Doesn’t Move

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• Koos Jansen

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It’s remarkable the Greek tragedy has had no influence on the gold price in recent weeks. We’ve heard repeatedly Europe and Greece could not reach a deal for an extended bailout, are financial markets suffering from Euroscrisis fatigue? Team Dijsselbloem-Juncker states they stretched all they could and offered the Greek government a reasonable deal that … Continue Reading

Former U.S. Mint Director Clueless On Gold In Fort Knox

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• Koos Jansen

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The Curious Case Of Edmund C. Moy Former US Mint director Ed Moy has made numerous false and self-contradictory statements regarding the gold at Fort Knox – a facility managed by the US Mint. The is post is a sequel to A First Glance At US Official Gold Reserves Audits, Second Thoughts On US Official Gold Reserves Audits and … Continue Reading

Gold Fund To Serve The New Strategy Of The Silk Road

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• Koos Jansen

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Not surprisingly there is little official documentation on the recently launched Silk Road Gold Fund. However, the translation below (original article published on ifeng) provides an intriguing insight at what this Fund is about. On May 22 Chinese financial policy makers from the PBOC, Chinese gold industry executives from commercial banks, mining companies, the Shanghai Gold Exchange... Continue Reading

Pre-2015 London Gold Fixings Were Surprisingly Sophisticated

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• Ronan Manly
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The financial media has recently pitched the transition of the London daily gold fixings to an ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) platform as a quantum leap from an antiquated Victorian-era process to a futuristic 21st century electronic auction. For example, the Wall Street Journal recently said that: “Four of the banks…had participated in the conference call used to... Continue Reading

Strong Withdrawals From China & Hong Kong Gold Vaults

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• Koos Jansen

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From June 8 – 12 withdrawals from SGE certified vaults in China mainland and CME Kilobar vaults in Hong Kong accounted 76 for tonnes. Withdrawals from the vaults of the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) and Shanghai International Gold Exchange (SGEI) came in elevated for this time a year at 46 tonnes in week 23 (June 8 … Continue Reading

Gold in Bank of England Custody Drops 351t

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• Koos Jansen

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The Bank Of England (BOE) has recently released its annual report in which it’s disclosed the gold held in custody for a range of customers was 5,134 metric tonnes on February 28, 2015, down 351 tonnes (6 %) form the previous year. The data on gold in custody at the BOE is disclosed in billions of Great British … Continue Reading

Koos Jansen Interviews Gold Futures Trader Petko Bankoff

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• Koos Jansen

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Out of my interest in every participant in the gold market – not only physical gold advocates – I’ve interviewed gold futures trader Petko Bankoff from Bulgaria. Thanks Petko for your time to answer my questions! What’s your background? I graduated the High School of Maths and Natural Sciences with the specialty “Earth sciences and English … Continue Reading

Bank of China Joins LBMA Gold Price (London Gold Fix)

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• Koos Jansen

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Originally published by the LBMA. Tuesday 16th June 2015. LBMA Gold Price – Bank of China joins as new participant. The LBMA today is pleased to announce that the Bank of China has been approved by ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) to participate in the LBMA Gold Price auction process, administered by IBA. On 20 March, … Continue Reading

Gold Replacing the U.S. Dollar as Reserve Asset

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• BullionStar
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The title to this blog post may feel contradictory as the US Dollar has appreciated against all other major currencies during the last year. One year ago, it took 74 euro-cents to buy one US Dollar, today it takes 89 euro-cents. Source: BullionStar Charts The US has for most of the last half century been … Continue Reading

Rectifying Chinese Gold Trading Rules

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• Koos Jansen

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I’ve found more detailed rules on the workings of the Chinese gold market regarding, (i) the use of onshore renminbi for contracts traded on the Shanghai International Gold Exchange (SGEI), (ii) gold sales of Chinese domestic gold mines. Previously I’ve written posts on these subjects that contained inaccurate information that I would like to correct. … Continue Reading

Western Consultants' False Arguments About SGE Withdrawals

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• Koos Jansen

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More false arguments – that should explain the difference between Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) withdrawals and Chinese gold demand as disclosed by the World Gold Council – are being spread in the gold space. The most recent argument is gold export from China. Since 2013 I’ve been writing the World Gold Council (WGC) is grossly … Continue Reading

Back to Basics: Debt 101

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• BullionStar
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Debt makes the world go round – Anon. Money at present, as we covered in the previous chapter, is merely a debt that a government owes you that can be used to pay for another debt of your choice. Now, if money – the basic medium of all transactions – is debt, what happens when this translates into something a bit more … Continue Reading

The Redeployment of Asia’s Forex Reserves

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• Koos Jansen

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China’s New Silk Road initiatives provide it with a way to use its huge pile of foreign exchange, and its gold-buying could lead to more balanced international monetary regime By Miriam L. Campanella and Koos Jansen Originally published on Caixin Online. The New Silk Road initiatives, also known as the “One Belt, One Road" plan, … Continue Reading

The World Gold Council's Funding Model

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• Ronan Manly
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In a little noticed development at the end of March 2015, World Gold Council (WGC) member company Newcrest Mining of Australia ceased to be a member of the WGC, thereby reducing the Council’s membership from 19 to 18 gold mining companies. Newcrest Mining is one of the world’s largest gold mining companies and Australia’s largest … Continue Reading

Media Failure On Russian Gold Reserves

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• Koos Jansen

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Last week I wrote how I can disagree with other media, be it mainstream or alternative, Chinese, Russian or English, on the reporting of the gold market. This week another perfect example came by, from Russian news outlet Sputnik International. According to this press agency the Russian Central Bank (CBR) currently holds 360 billion US … Continue Reading

U.S. Government Lost 7 Fort Knox Gold Audit Reports

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• Koos Jansen

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There Is No Proof All Gold Is In Fort Knox This post is a sequel to A First Glance At US Official Gold Reserves Audits and Second Thoughts On US Official Gold Reserves Audits. Every year the gold in Fort Knox is ‘audited’ by checking the official joint seals that were placed on all vault … Continue Reading

Will the Yuan Renminbi Be Fully Convertible in 2015?

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• Koos Jansen

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Let us begin by looking at withdrawals from the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE), as this is the best indicator for demand in the Chinese wholesale market – read this post for the mechanics of the Chinese gold market. In week 20 (May 18 – 22) withdrawals accounted for 43 tonnes, down 6.57 % week on week, but … Continue Reading

Don’t Believe Everything You Read On The Internet

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• Koos Jansen

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Wholesale gold demand measured by withdrawals from Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) vaults remains very strong this year at 45 tonnes in week 19 (May 11 -15). Year to date 903 tonnes have been withdrawn. Year to date withdrawals are up 20 % from 2014 and 8 % from 2013. In the next chart we can … Continue Reading

Interview With Koos Jansen, Torgny Persson, and Ronan Manly

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• BullionStar
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Interview with BullionStar’s three bloggers, Mr. Koos Jansen, Mr. Ronan Manly and BullionStar’s CEO, Mr. Torgny Persson, sharing their opinions of the current monetary system, gold and central banks. Koos Jansen Torgny Persson … Continue Reading

Xinhua: China Sets Up Gold Fund For Central Banks

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• Koos Jansen

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On May 12, 2015, I reported China’s Silk Road economic project would include gold business. A month prior to that Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) chairman Xu Luode had “proposed to integrate gold market development into the strategic development plan of the Silk Road”. Shortly after, in early May it was announced gold mining company Polyus … Continue Reading

Austria Repatriates 110 Tonnes From UK

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• Koos Jansen

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Austria is repatriating gold from the vaults at the Bank Of England (BOE) at this very moment, according to Kronen Zeitung. The OeNB (central bank of the Republic of Austria) stored 82 % of its 280 tonnes at the depository in England. It will start by bringing back 110 tonnes to Austria, to eventually have 50 … Continue Reading

Chinese Gold Leasing Not What It Seems

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• Koos Jansen

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Welcome to another episode of understanding how mainstream consultancy firms (the World Gold Council, GFMS, CPM Group, Precious Metals Insights) understate Chinese gold demand. One of their main arguments is that hundreds if not thousands of tonnes are tied up in Chinese Commodity Financing Deals (CCFDs). As it was first stated by the World Gold Council … Continue Reading

Back to Basics: Money 101

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• BullionStar
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Money’s a matter of functions four, A Medium, a Measure, a Standard, a Store. – William Stanley Jevons, Money and the Mechanism of Exchange (1875) As this simple poetic stanza rolls off your tongue in military-like cadence, it encapsulates the very definition of money with unrivaled precision and simplicity. This is Money 101. Money is: 1. A … Continue Reading

SGE Withdrawals vs. WGC Demand Q1 2015

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• Koos Jansen

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Welcome back to my weekly post on the Chinese gold market, usually centered around data regarding Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) withdrawals from the vaults. I’ve been away for a short while because I had some health issues – I’ll be fine, I just need a little time. The good news is I slowly started working a … Continue Reading

U.S. National Archives Releases 1978 Diplomatic Cables

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• Ronan Manly
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The US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has just released a new batch of diplomatic cables from the year 1978, which can be searched and browsed via the Access to Archival Databases (AAD) website at http://aad.archives.gov/aad/. These batches of cables are variously known as “State Department Cables“, “Diplomatic Records" or “Central Foreign... Continue Reading

Venezuela’s Gold Reserves – Part 2

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• Ronan Manly
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This is Part 2 of a two-part series. Part 1, titled “Venezuela’s Gold Reserves – Part 1: El Oro, El BCV, y Los Bancos de Lingotes“, provided a historical overview of Venezuela’s gold and looked at where the gold, and the claims on gold, were located just prior to repatriation in 2011, especially the gold … Continue Reading

Venezuela’s Gold Reserves – Part 1

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• Ronan Manly
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Venezuela’s gold reserves have rarely stayed out of the financial news headlines over the last four years. From initial gold repatriation announcements in August 2011, through to gold shipments from Europe to Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, in late 2011 and early 2012, as well as the more recent negotiations on using gold in swaps and for … Continue Reading

China’s Silk Road Economic Project Will Include Gold

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• Koos Jansen

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The Chinese government seems to be very keen on developing the New Silk Road Economic Belt as fast as possible; an initiative, said to be designed by President Xi Jinping himself, that will increase economic cooperation in the wide Eurasian region. At a stunning speed China and Russia take the lead in strengthening ties in the … Continue Reading

What to Make of the Staggering US Trade Deficit?

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• BullionStar
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March 2015 Data When the imports and exports figures of March were released, the world was taken aback when the United States announced that their trade deficit has ballooned $51.4 billion, a 43% increase from February, where the deficit was “only" $35.9 billion. Though there was a slight jump in exports, from $186.2 billion to … Continue Reading

Top Netherlands Newspaper Interviews Koos Jansen

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• Koos Jansen

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From De Telegraaf, Thursday April 9, 2015. By Theo Besteman: China Conquers The World With Gold After a serious knee surgery in 2013 sound engineer Jan Nieuwenhuijs began a blog about gold. Two years later, the 33-year old from Amsterdam is an international gold expert, his analyzes are praised by investors on Wall Street. “China takes over US … Continue Reading

Bank Bail-Ins Mean That You Don’t Own Your Money

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• BullionStar
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Bank deposits The account balance on your bank account is known as a demand deposit. Under our Fractional Reserve Banking (FRB) system, your deposits are used by the banks to leverage lending. What most people think of as their account balance is actually something very different. Many people mistakenly believe that their account balance shows how much they own. … Continue Reading

El Salvador’s Gold Reserves, the BIS, and the Bullion Banks

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• Ronan Manly
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According to a Reuters report from 24 April, the central bank of El Salvador, Banco Central de Reserva de El Salvador (BCR), sold approximately 80% of its gold reserves during March 2015. This sale comprised 5.412 tons of gold and raised $206 million for the Bank. Reuters initiated its story based on updates to the … Continue Reading

Introducing FreeGold

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• BullionStar
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In my last post, US Dollar as Reserve Currency – Credibility Inflation, I briefly touched on a few ideas relating to FreeGold such as the demand for the US Dollar as a savings instrument temporarily propping up the fiat/debt/money system. What is FreeGold? FreeGold is not a single theory but an understanding of how past events have formed a … Continue Reading

The US Dollar as Reserve Currency – Credibility Inflation

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• BullionStar
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US Dollar as Reserve Currency In my last post, I discussed and compared different bank reserve systems. With the introduction of the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, in 1913, banks started to take larger risks expanding credit as they knew the central bank was backstopping them. With the monetary ties to gold severed in … Continue Reading

Gold or Fiat? That's the Question…

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• BullionStar
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What happens when you deposit money at the bank? Most people don’t think much about it. The bank probably safekeeps the money in their vault. Then I can come to the bank to withdraw my money any time. Right? Wrong. When you deposit money at the bank, you immediately relinquish your ownership to that money. The bank will not … Continue Reading

The IMF’s Gold Depositories – Part 3

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• Ronan Manly
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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is authorized to use its gold holdings to engage in gold location swaps and has done so frequently in the past. This has involved gold location swaps with the entities who maintain the gold vaults where the IMF stores its gold, such as the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, … Continue Reading

The Shanghai International Gold Exchange Comes To Life

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• Koos Jansen

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In September 2014 the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) launched its International Board, the Shanghai International Gold Exchange (SGEI). After a slow start, the volume of the physical SGEI kilobar contract (iAu99.99) has transcended all other SGE contracts in week 15 (April 6- 10). The primary goals for the launch of the SGEI was to facilitate … Continue Reading

Pro-Gold Governments and Central Banks

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• BullionStar
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Many gold bugs argue that governments and central banks are generally biased against gold. In some cases, like I described in my previous post, they are right. Certain countries, with India as the most notable example, have adopted hostile gold policies. In this post, I will however show that the tide has turned with many central banks not … Continue Reading

Zooming in on the Chinese Gold Lease Market

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• Koos Jansen

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The primary reasons mainstream gold analysts (and the media) don’t use Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) withdrawals as an indicator for Chinese wholesale gold demand, are – after a few others have been tested – Chinese Commodity Financing Deals (CCFD). Regarding gold these financing operations can be be conducted through round-tripping or gold leasing. Because of the... Continue Reading

Guest Post: Spelling Out the Big Reset

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• Koos Jansen

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Written by LK in Hong Kong As economies age, debt builds up. Advanced economies – those with the highest borrowing ratings by the reputable agencies they developed – have it clogging up inside all their arteries. The Big Reset will finally become inevitable, as has been acknowledged by the IMF head Largarde, mentioning the year 2020. … Continue Reading

Thoughts On The Price Of Gold

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• Koos Jansen

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Withdrawals from the Shanghai Gold exchange (SGE), which equal Chinese wholesale gold demand, in week 12 (March 23 – 27) accounted for 46 tonnes, down 14.5 % w/w. Year to date total withdrawals have reached 607 tonnes, up 9 % from 2014, up 33 % from 2013. Ever wondered why Chinese demand doesn’t move the price … Continue Reading