Dutch Bank Won't Deliver

OPA

In letters received by customers of the large Dutch bank ABN Amro over this past weekend, the bank announced a customer service policy change taking effect on Monday, April 1.

"Beginning next week, the bank will no longer allow customers to take physical delivery of the precious metals that they own and are stored at the bank."

It's beginning to sound "more like .. who's got me Gold"

Numismaster...Patrick Heller

roadrunner

As long as I were paid off in Happy Meals I would be satisfied.

Governments in debt and bullion banks with huge short positions need that gold more than mere stackers/speculators. So get with it and hand over your lucky charms.

derryb

I suspect they are expecting a run on the paper gold that they have been selling as physical. A prime example of counterparty risk.

Their expected withdrawal demand is probably tied to something that has not yet been announced. Look for negative news.

JCMhouston

If you can't hold it, you probably don't actually own it.

derryb

If you can't hold it how are you even sure that it exists?

ricko

Prime, real time example of the folly of paper.....Cheers, RickO

PerryHall

What good is paper if it can't be converted to the physical?

jmski52

What good is paper if it can't be converted to the physical?

<<<crickets chirping>>>

bronco2078

<< <i>What good is paper if it can't be converted to the physical? >>



It works for the banks just not for us.

Baley

Folks in the US with deposit receipts for amounts of gold bullion on deposit in foreign banks ought to be pretty concerned about stuff like this, and the larger amount of money they have invested this way, the more they should be concerned. If someone is holding their own physical gold, they ought to feel pretty smug, yes? like, news such as this is validation for them and their actions, right? of course, if there's a news story about someone robbed and their physical gold stolen, then they should in turn feel concerned, and the deposit receipt holder smug

derryb

<< <i>What good is paper if it can't be converted to the physical? >>


It can be bought and sold in the same day with the push of the button. Stackers and holders can't really profit from short term price swings. Why not profit from paper and physical? Silver today is a good example:

BAJJERFAN

<< <i>What good is paper if it can't be converted to the physical? >>



What good is physical if they won't let you have it?

JCMhouston

Paper may be good for short term trading, but I use SLV and GLD for day trading PM's. In any event this case has nothing to do with trading, these were people that thought they were stacking physical gold, and weren't.

And even with SLV and GLD I wouldn't take a position for more than a day, if it ever comes out that they can't actually put their hands on the PM's they supposedly have stacked then the bottom would drop out overnight. I wonder if ABN was storing any of GLD's gold?

thatboyaintright

This policy of ANB in refusing to transfer custody of the gold owned by the holders of the accounts certainly has nothing to do with any nefarious activity. The gold is there, its audited, its tested and it is not pledged as security to any short position. The reason for the policy of not redeeming the gold on demand is that owners of small positions demanding the physical delivery on any particular day, vastly increases the cost to the bank, and negates both the profitability and the true purpose of such accounts.

An account holder arriving at the institution demanding their $ 5,000 balance (for example) in gold is a very expensive transaction to execute in terms of administrative time, labor, security etc. Such small transactions are grossly inefficient. The purpose of such accounts backed by stored physical gold lies in the security of the asset being stored, but coupled with the liquidity of electronic trading.

Relax.... holders of such accounts are safe..... much safer than the personal vault you may have in your home.

PerryHall

<< <i>This policy of ANB in refusing to transfer custody of the gold owned by the holders of the accounts certainly has nothing to do with any nefarious activity. The gold is there, its audited, its tested and it is not pledged as security to any short position. The reason for the policy of not redeeming the gold on demand is that owners of small positions demanding the physical delivery on any particular day, vastly increases the cost to the bank, and negates both the profitability and the true purpose of such accounts.

An account holder arriving at the institution demanding their $ 5,000 balance (for example) in gold is a very expensive transaction to execute in terms of administrative time, labor, security etc. Such small transactions are grossly inefficient. The purpose of such accounts backed by stored physical gold lies in the security of the asset being stored, but coupled with the liquidity of electronic trading.

Relax.... holders of such accounts are safe..... much safer than the personal vault you may have in your home. >>



If you can't convert the paper to gold, you don't own any gold---the bank owns it.

OPA

<< <i>

<< <i>This policy of ANB in refusing to transfer custody of the gold owned by the holders of the accounts certainly has nothing to do with any nefarious activity. The gold is there, its audited, its tested and it is not pledged as security to any short position. The reason for the policy of not redeeming the gold on demand is that owners of small positions demanding the physical delivery on any particular day, vastly increases the cost to the bank, and negates both the profitability and the true purpose of such accounts.

An account holder arriving at the institution demanding their $ 5,000 balance (for example) in gold is a very expensive transaction to execute in terms of administrative time, labor, security etc. Such small transactions are grossly inefficient. The purpose of such accounts backed by stored physical gold lies in the security of the asset being stored, but coupled with the liquidity of electronic trading.

Relax.... holders of such accounts are safe..... much safer than the personal vault you may have in your home. >>



If you can't convert the paper to gold, you don't own any gold---the bank owns it. >>



And the Bank broke their agreement only to store it until a demand for redemption is made. You are paying for that privilege with your monthly or annual storage fees.