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The World Gold Council has launched a new Retail Gold Investment Principles (RGIP) designed to set the bar for product providers across the global retail gold market and further encourage retail investors to place their trust in gold.
RGIP comes at a time when China has unearthed 83 tonnes of fake gold bars worth 20 billion yuan. This amount of gold “would be equivalent to 22 per cent of China’s annual gold production and 4.2 per cent of the state gold reserve as of last year”.
Since 2001, demand for gold globally as an investment asset has increased by an average of 15 per cent annually. Today, retail investors own close to 40,000 tonnes of gold, valued at about $2,000 billion.
Adoption of RGIPs will inculcate best practices and bring in greater trust, benefiting both customers and product providers alike, creating value and driving demand across the industry.
Experts from over 15 countries spanning all sectors of the retail gold investment market have provided valuable feedback on both the structure and terminology of the RGIPs.
The WGC has also published an updated Retail Gold Investment Investor Guidance which emphasises on ensuring the person selling the gold product is subject to external regulation and conforms to specific standards.
Investors should also ensure that they are not exposed to the gold product seller's creditworthiness and that they legally own their gold.
When buying investment gold, investors should aim to purchase metal produced by reputable refineries or mints approved by LBMA, said the report.
David Tait, CEO, World Gold Council, said the common objective of RGIP is to make certain that investors, especially those considering gold for the first time, have absolute trust in the products they are offered and the providers with whom they chose to transact.
“Through this industry engagement it was clear to us that the market would benefit from a globally aligned set of best practices in order to ensure an effective, efficient and trusted market overall,” he said.
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