INVESTOR BENEFITS

Absolute Liquidity
No Reliance on Management Skills
No Counterparty Risk

Although investors can typically purchase small quantities of gold, silver or platinum bars or coins through various precious metals or coin dealers, their storage options remain very limited.

Even for smaller purchases of bullion, the investor must establish a new, independent relationship with a bank or coin dealer independent of their financial advisor.  They then assume the risk of self storage that is uninsured.  Even if home insurance were an option for precious metals, the investor’s family would be exposed to the risk of personal harm in the case of robbery.

Traditional financial advisors, securities and mutual fund dealers, and wealth managers, have not been able to offer any direct means for their clients to purchase and store physical precious metals. While numerous options in precious metals derivatives are typically available (options, futures contracts, mining shares, ETFs), there are no bullion products available through traditional advisors that allow for the purchase of physical gold, silver or platinum bullion in individual bars.

With Our Strategic Partners global investors are able to purchase and store larger amounts of physical bullion in a simple, convenient and low cost manner.
The Bank of Nova Scotia provides investors with a secure, world class storage facility.

Investors holding Our Strategic Partner BullionBars are provided with a Bullion Deed recording the exact identification of each bullion bar they own by registered owner, assayer, purity, fineness, and bar serial number.

Other derivative forms of precious metals investment vehicles are either someone else's liability, or are highly dependent on someone's ability to pay.  As a result, the investor is dependent on the robustness of the financial market, and may not have deposit protection. Our Strategic Partners BullionBars are allocated in physical form so they are not anyone's promise of performance.

PURCHASE BENEFITS

An investment in Our Strategic Partner BullionsBars offers a number of benefits, including:

PURCHASE INFORMATION

Our Strategic Partner BullionBars are available in the following weights:

Most investment grade bullion bars will vary within a specified range of the above weights. The 100-ounce and 400-ounce gold bars can vary up to +/- 5 percent, the silver and platinum bars vary by +/-10 percent, while the gold kilogram bar does not vary in size.

Our Strategic Partner BullionBars are purchased through Our Strategic Partner Authorized Dealers. Such as Anson Inevestment Ltd.

STORAGE DELIVERY INFO.

Custodial Storage

Bullion Custodial Services Inc. (BCS) offers custodial storage services in Toronto, New York City and Hong Kong. This allows owners of precious metals purchased under the Our Strategic Partner BullionBars program to safely store their bullion in a secure and insured vault, with The Bank of Nova Scotia acting as custodian.

All bars purchased from BCS meet industry good delivery standards. This means that all Our Strategic Partner BullionBars meet minimum quality and size standards set out in various good delivery specifications. For example, the 400-ounce gold bars and the 1000-ounce silver bars meet the good delivery standards of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), the pre-eminent bullion marketing association in the world. These industry standards allow members to transact and transport physical bullion with each other without the need to verify purity, weight and other bar specifications. This allows bar owners, should they so choose, to sell their bullion into the most liquid precious metals markets worldwide.

Precious metals bars that meet these good delivery standards are kept within what is called a chain of integrity, where member dealers, refiners and custodians can rest assured that the bars have never left the system. BCS will not accept bullion from clients who are not part of this system because we would not know, without an assay, if, a counterfeit bar was being passed off as a legitimate bar. The chain of integrity ensures that all bars held by authorized custodians are only good delivery bars, without compromise or chance of counterfeit bars entering the system.

BCS clients who opt for custodial storage may inspect their bars in special viewing rooms in the Toronto and New York City vaults, after making arrangements with BCS and completing certain security procedures.

Bullion Delivery

BCS offers delivery services to most cities and towns in the developed world through Brink’s and other carriers. Bars can be purchased directly for delivery, and can be delivered out of custodial storage at any time. The charges for armoured car delivery vary substantially depending upon the distance from the client’s BCS vault location to their desired delivery location, and the value of the bars being delivered. Delivery charges are typically one to three percent of the bars’ value, and clients are required to have three percent of bar value in their BCS account to cover delivery charges. Clients must provide a commercial address for delivery, as Brink’s will not deliver to residential addresses.

Once bars leave the vault they will no longer qualify as good delivery bars. To liquidate them in the future will involve re-assaying, with the associated delays and costs.

HOW TO INVEST/FAQs

Below you will find a list of questions. Clicking on a question will show the answer for that question.  

Q&A Q. Why should I buy precious metals through Bullion Custodial Services Inc. instead of going to the bank? A. Bullion Custodial Services Inc. offers you the simplest, most convenient and cost-efficient way to purchase, store and sell your investment grade Good Delivery Standards bullion bars of gold, silver and platinum. Banks typically do not offer storage facilities for your bullion. You would have to store your bullion at home or in a safety deposit box. Either way your bullion is at risk and usually uninsurable. Once taken out of the bank, your bullion may require re-assay in order to be sold. Because Bullion Custodial Services Inc. stores your bullion in a certified LBMA vault thus guaranteeing that the Chain of Integrity is not broken, the provenance of BullionBars is assured and your bullion is completely liquid meaning it can be instantly sold without the need to re-assay. Q. Should I be purchasing coins, certificates or bullion bars? A. That depends on how much bullion you need. Coins are appropriate for small levels of protection whereas Good Delivery Standards bullion bars are traditionally held to preserve significant amounts of wealth. Traditionally precious metals coins are more expensive per ounce to purchase than the larger bullion bars. They usually measure one ounce or less in weight and significant premiums or bar charges may be incurred. You may also be required to pay a Sales Tax for your coin purchase depending on your jurisdiction. Bullion certificates are very common today, however most people don't realize that the certificate is not actual bullion but a proxy for bullion. All you own is someone else's promise to pay the value of the bullion to you. This is the basic nature of a certificate. You cannot convert certificates directly into bullion without first paying bar charges or fees, and most certificates allow the issuing bank to pay you the cash value of the bullion certificate instead of issuing actual bullion. Paper certificates defeat the purpose of owning the actual bullion as there is no guarantee that there will be bullion available when you want it most. In order for bullion to work as an effective hedge, it must be allocated ownership of the physical bullion in your name. BullionBars offers you direct ownership of fully allocated "Good Delivery Standards" bars of bullion. Q. Are there risks involved in purchasing bullion? A. All investments involve an element of risk - bullion is no exception. The value of bullion is affected by many economic factors, including the current market price and the perceived scarcity of the precious metal, the current demand and general market sentiment. Other factors such as the bullion futures market can affect the price of physical bullion, sometimes significantly. Because bullion can reduce as well as increase in value, an investment in bullion may not be suitable for everyone. Since all investments, including bullion can decline in value, you should have a good understanding of the precious metals markets, and have adequate cash reserves before considering an investment in physical bullion. Q. What are "Good Delivery Standards" bullion bars? A. Good Delivery Standards bullion bars are cast by a small group of metals refiners accredited by the professional bullion dealing communities, London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), New York Commodities Exchange (COMEX) and London Platinum Palladium (LPPM). They are accurately assayed and guaranteed always 99.5 percent pure gold or better, 99.9 percent pure silver or better and 99.95 percent pure platinum or better. In the case of gold and platinum, the market trades the bar's pure metal content, known as fine ounces, so you don't pay for the impurities whereas silver includes impurities in the weight of the bar. From the day they are manufactured, Good Delivery Standards bars are kept in bullion vaults recognized and monitored by the gold-dealing community. The same standard applies for silver and platinum. Whenever the bullion bars are moved, a record is maintained showing continuous storage through trusted hands. This audit trail, or chain of integrity, guarantees the bar's authenticity and becomes key to assuring the liquidity of the precious metal. Taking delivery of the bullion and storing it at home, or even storing in a safety deposit box, does not confirm the provenance of the bar. The bar mist have to be re-assayed prior to selling it back into the gold-dealing community. Because the provenance of the bullion is verified when it remains in the certified vault facility, you can sell your BullionBars without the need to re-confirm their purity - this greatly reduces the time required to sell the bullion and reduces the costs related to a sale. Good Delivery Standards bullion bars tend to be large and can vary in weight within a specified range. Bullion Custodial Services Inc. Good Delivery Standards gold bars usually weigh roughly 400 ounces troy (12.44kg), and the COMEX "Good Delivery Standards" gold bars weigh roughly 100 ounces troy. (LPPM) Good Delivery Standards platinum bars can range from a low of 1 Kilogram (32.151 troy ounces) to a high of 6 Kilograms (192.904) troy ounces of platinum. Q. What size of bullion products can be purchased from Bullion Custodial Services Inc.? A. They offer five products in total. We have gold bars in three sizes: one kilogram, 100 ounces, and 400 ounces. They also offer 1000-ounce silver bars and 50-ounce platinum bars. All the bars are Good Delivery Standards bars. Q. How do I purchase BullionBars? A. Please contact us directly. Q. Are there any sales or VAT taxes payable when I buy or sell the bullion? A. In Canada there are no taxes payable on the purchase of bullion. HST does apply to the ongoing storage fee. You may have to pay a sales tax if you take delivery or transport the bullion to a jurisdiction that requires such tax to be paid. You will be responsible for any sales or Value Added Tax (VAT) tax payable in your jurisdiction. You should consult with your tax advisor for definitive answers in the area of taxes. Q. Where are BullionBars stored? A. They offer insured storage services for BullionBars at The Bank of Nova Scotia in Toronto, Canada, a Canadian chartered bank and member of the London Bullion Market Association through its Scotia Mocatta division. Q. How can I be assured that my precious metals are really in the vault? A. Your metals are always stored in the LBMA certified vault owned and operated by the Bank of Nova Scotia. The bank issues a monthly report to BCS that records bars added or removed from the vault and details a complete audit trail of the bar inventory. BCS's auditors, KPMG review all bar lists and annually reconcile the vault holdings. Q. How can I prove that I own the BullionBars I just purchased? A. As soon as you have transacted your purchase, you will receive an email reconciliation giving you details of the cost of the bar purchased and the balance (if any) in your BCS account. Within a week after your purchase has been transacted, BCS will issue a Bullion Deed that will identify your specific BullionBars by weight, purity, refiner and serial number. Each BullionBar has its own unique deed that serves to prove ownership of your allocated bar(s). Q. Does my BullionBar depend on the solvency of Bullion Custodial Services Inc, The Bank of Nova Scotia, or the dealer from which I bought the BullionBar? A. Absolutely not! You have clear title to your BullionBar as evidenced by your Bullion Deed and you have the unfettered right to take delivery of your bar at any time. Q. Would a creditor of BCS or the bank have any hold on my gold, silver or platinum? A. No. Your BullionBars are your property and are allocated to you only and without any lien. It is not the property of BCS or the Bank of Nova Scotia, nor is it vulnerable to creditors of either. Q. How do I sell my BullionBars and what does it cost? A. Please contact us directly. Q. Where do you keep the personal information I send to you? A. Your information is kept at our administrative office in Markham, Ontario, Canada and BCS will endeavor to keep all of your personal identity information completely confidential. We will not release this information for marketing purposes. An electronic copy of your documents is made and held encrypted on our secure servers. These servers are physically isolated and cannot be accessed over the Internet by anyone. Redundant backups are stored offsite in a secure facility. Q. Who has access to my personal information? A. Your personal information will be kept strictly confidential and will not be disclosed without your express consent except when Bullion Custodial Services Inc. is required to provide information pertaining to you in order to ensure compliance with any form of legal process. For more information, please see their Privacy Policy.