BullionVault

BullionVault.com
Founded 2005
Headquarters London, United Kingdom
Website www.bullionvault.com

BullionVault is an internet peer-to-peer gold-and-silver-bullion exchange formed in 2005. Their headquarters are in London, United Kingdom.

History

Founded by Paul Tustain in 2005,[1] BullionVault is the sole operating business of Galmarley Ltd. On 17 June 2010 the World Gold Council and Augmentum Capital each bought an 11.4% equity stake, investing a total of £12.5m (US$18.8m). Augmentum's first fund, Augmentum I LP, is backed solely by RIT Capital Partners, the FTSE-listed investment trust in which Lord Rothschild and the Rothschild family are substantial investors.[2]

As of April 2016, more than 60,000 people had used BullionVault to buy, store and trade physical gold and silver. Between them, they owned $1.4 billion worth of gold bullion (£953m, €1.2bn, ¥154bn)[3] – more than is held by most of the world's central banks[4] – plus a further $273m (£190m, €240m, ¥31bn) in physical silver.

Exchange process

Clients of BullionVault hold their gold and silver in vaults controlled by BullionVault, thereby creating a legal bailment.[5] Purchased gold and silver is held in allocated storage (with Via Mat International or with The Brink's Company) in either Zurich, London, New York, Toronto or Singapore depending on the client's preference.

BullionVault's market order board enables users to buy and sell their gold at prices set by them. New clients are asked to provide proof of identity and address, and are required to nominate a single bank account for paying into and out of their BullionVault account. Unlike digital gold currency, BullionVault does not allow the direct transfer of gold units between user accounts. Users, however, may sell and buy gold from each other via the exchange facility. BullionVault undertakes a daily audit to reconcile every client's holdings against the latest bar lists and bank statements, demonstrating that all the bullion held by its users is secured within the vaults.[6]

Daily price

In March 2013, BullionVault added an option to buy and sell vaulted gold (or silver) at a daily price equivalent to that set independently at the London gold fix (or at the LBMA Silver Price). This is offered on the website along with the BullionVault markets’ live order board.

BullionVault also launched a "Regular Gold Investment Plan" which allows users to automatically purchase gold in the Zurich vault at the daily price. Users set up a monthly bank payment to their BullionVault account and once the funds are credited BullionVault uses them to buy gold at the daily price.

Retirement planning

In the UK, it is possible to hold and operate a BullionVault account within a Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) through a range of providers. Regulations mean that only gold, and not silver, can be held in a UK SIPP.

Similarly, in the USA, it is possible to hold and operate a BullionVault account within an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). Both gold and silver can be held in an IRA.

Awards

MoneyWeek is the UK’s best-selling financial magazine. In November 2014, readers voted BullionVault the best gold broker in the first ever MoneyWeek Awards.

In 2013, BullionVault was one of the winners of The Queen's Award for Enterprise: International Trade, for growing overseas sales by 140% in 4 years.

In 2012, BullionVault was ranked #11 in the Sunday Times Top Track 250 which ranks Britain's top 250 mid-market private companies by their turnover over the previous year.[7]

In 2009, BullionVault was one of the winners of The Queen's Award for Enterprise: Innovation (Technology) (2009), for opening private access to the professional bullion markets.

See also

References

  1. ↑ IX Investor Presentation
  2. ↑ Lord Rothschild fund joins World Gold Council to put £12.5m into BullionVaultThe Telegraph, By Garry White, 11:26PM BST 20 Jun 2010
  3. ↑ Daily Audit - Allocated Gold Bar Lists And Bank Statements - BullionVault.com
  4. ↑ Official World Gold Reserves World Gold Council website
  5. ↑ BullionVault Will Expand Services to Silver Bloomberg
  6. ↑ Albert Goodman Auditor's Procedures
  7. ↑ The Sunday Times Top Track 250

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, April 05, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.