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Guest Post: World's Biggest Gold Storage Company Dumps US Citizens
Submitted by Simon Black of Sovereign Man blog,
ViaMat, a Swiss logistics company that has been safeguarding precious metals since 1945, is literally the gold standard in secure storage.
They have vaults from Switzerland to Hong Kong to Dubai, and they count among their clients some of the largest mining companies in the world. They know what they’re doing.
And now they’re dumping US citizens.
ViaMat does a great deal of business within the United States. As such, the company is heavily exposed to the insane US regulatory environment.
As an example, the 2010 Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act turned into more than 500 pages of regulation! The costs and risks associated with compliance simply became too much for ViaMat to bear.
This matter-of-fact letter from ViaMat management explains their decision:
“We are currently experiencing rapid and substantial changes in the general regulations within this business. The changes mainly relate to the tax structures and taxation systems of various countries. As a consequence of these changes VIA MAT INTERNATIONAL has taken the decision to stop offering this service at its vault [sic] outside of the US to private customers with potential US-tax liability.”
This is huge. I can’t possibly overstate the potential ramifications.
For one, the big gold depositories like Gold Money and Bullion Vault ALL use ViaMat as a primary secure storage provider. So it’s only a matter of time before ViaMat’s decision cascades across these other firms.
I have written extensively about this to subscribers of our premium service, Sovereign Man: Confidential; most gold storage firms are all essentially different varieties of the exact same product. They are retail marketing channels that ultimately use ViaMat to store their gold bars. If ViaMat has US exposure, THEY have US exposure. It’s the same risk.
Now, if you’re in the United States in particular, one of the most important (and cost effective) steps you can take in international diversification is to store precious metals overseas.
Gold remains the most effective ‘anti-currency’ out there, a bet against a corrupt financial system and debt-laden sovereign governments. But remember– governments have an unblemished track record of plundering their citizens’ wealth. So if you store your gold in the US, you might as well ask Barack Obama to keep it under his mattress.
If history is any guide, storing gold abroad is critical. And it’s one of those things that you won’t be worse off for doing.
The thing is, it’s equally critical to work with a service provider that has no US exposure.
There are very few options out there. Again, most of the big boys use ViaMat, which has heavy US exposure. Or Brinks, which is a US company.
For nearly a year, I’ve been encouraging our premium subscribers to store their gold with a Singapore-based company that has the most advanced, transparent operation on the planet.
They are 100% Singaporean, and their US regulatory exposure is effectively zero.
They’re also one of the only firms on the planet that actually tests the gold it sells (and stores) through three different methods, including X-ray and ultrasound. This way you know that your gold is, in fact, gold… and not tungsten.
Best of all, they’re launching a new service to receive your existing gold at their facilities in Singapore. So if you’ve just been shut out of ViaMat, or you want to transfer your gold from another facility that has heavy US exposure, these guys will be able to do it.
They are, without a doubt, the best solution out there. And Sovereign Man: Confidential members have received unprecedented discounts and exclusive access to new services offered by this firm.
Storing gold overseas makes sense no matter what happens. And it’s critical to choose a reputable partner with no US exposure. If you agree with this premise and are serious about taking action, I’d encourage you to get started right away with a premium membership. Get the actionable intelligence you need, all backed by our risk-free guarantee.
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Exactly, I spend all my disposable income on silver coins
I wouldn't dream of storing them anywhere but home.
It's not like we're going to get much of a warning when we'll need them.
If it isn't in your hand....forget about it.
The safe should be embedded in a basement floor and very well concealed, so even crack cops can't find it without special equipment.
How does one transport phys gold abroad anyway?
Smuggle it up your ass like Bruce Willis' dead dad and Christopher Walken in Pulp Fiction.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFtHjV4c4uw
Whoa!
I've heard that the favourite method of US citizens transporting gold abroad is by boat.
Still waiting for a ZH Yacht Club t-shirt.
The line art should be a sunken galleon.
The Atlantic and the Pacific are nice places to lose a boat, though. Good luck getting to Singapore unless you have a really big boat.
It depends on the form... AGEs are worth 50 bux ..i believe you, per passenger, can still board airplanes with networth of 10G US $.
Thats 200 AGEs, or 10000 ASEs( worth $1.00)
If you had bullion bars of 1 oz..you can easily convert ot jewelry using a bezel, wear a few..yeah you look like a Mr. T wannabe, but you can out some oz that way too. One has to be legally creative...
Or, You can always fly privately with or separately, with Dimon, Blankfein etc,...they dont get checked at borders same as you and I
ViaMat, FiatSmack. It doesn't matter much whether you keep your gold in a shoebox or in some vault across the world. the past week has proven irrefutably who really owns your gold whether its being diddled by some "reputable custodian" in Simon Black's brave new world or getting naked shorted by Blyth (Money) Masters and the hordes of flying monkeys regularly dispatched from the dark side at the bullion banks. what you just witnessed was a transfer of $1.5 billion of your collective investment into the hands of the bankster criminals with a fire sale deal for the Russians and Chicoms gratis of our good friends at the CRIMEX with the actionable complicity of their organ grinder monkeys at the CFTC.http://www.24hgold.com/english/contributor.aspx?article=4250111102G10020...
In the type of situation where you would need to access your foreign gold, there is virtually zero chance that is would still be there when you arrive. Besides, isn't storing gold with anyone basically the same thing as holding paper gold - a promise to redeem later?
Again, it's not all about Gold and the lunatic Gold bugs. Hate to break the news to you, this is not about getting you Gold, it's about squeezing every penny of taxes out of American citizens. Right along with, we are 1 of 2 countries that tax US citizens worldwide even if they NEVER lived in the US, just for the sake of being a citizen. But the US propaganda machine has all you believe it's the evil rich that are trying to hide money, there are more average Joe's working in Foreign land paying taxes with NEVER using any of the services.
2010 Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act is about the so-called tax evader but then again you must feed the sheep with all the conspiracy non-sense. Now three years later it's a big deal,why? Oh, yea, the Goldbugs are all crying it's about Gold, geez wake the fuck up!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wait! How about they tax you for it, then seize it after you're milked out of tax moneys??
I feel sure you will get a Zimbabwe Treasury Bill in exchange
Bitcoin users not affected.
...confirmation received ......deploy EMP......roger that.
Oops, the blockchain is still saved on thousands of computers all over the world! And I have my Bitcoin address and key printed out on paper. So I guess you'll have to try harder than that! ;)
I've been thinking of using a non us vault to store half of my pm in. Somewhere I can drive to If I had to. So I stumbled today on a company called Nova vaults in Halifax, NS. It's a non bank private vault service that will actually insure your items deposited with them. http://www.novavaults.com/ has anyone heard of these guys? Or have any thoughts about the security of placing your precious items in their vaults?
Somebody else's vault?
Bush's vault!
lol! sorry, could NOT pass that up...
Google "Safe Deposit Centres Limited"
or search it in you tube, then see what you think.
If you like Nova Scotia, find a nice provincial wilderness area or nature preserve that is unlikely to ever be disturbed for any construction projects and, using a folding shovel, bury it under a tree or under several trees. Take a photograph and take your portable GIS and write down the coordinates. That is the safest way to store PM's that I can think of.
Don't use anyplace with an address. Skeeter has plans to nationalize all those warehouses!
taxation from Dallas to Timboektoe
no space to breathe for you
gold & silver, last resort
and you know it
abort! abort!
http://www.bigthink.com/strange-maps/291-federal-lands-in-the-us
OK... So the guy says there is a problem with storing gold oversea in Switzerland... and recommend more oversea gold storing as a solution.
The problem is real money been too far away.
You don't hold it, you don't own it.
Nuff said.
Part of the plan to kill the USA was to get the world to hate them for the evil the people have allowed to take place all over the world for the last decade and more. When once the people of the USA were liked, now they are hated world-wide like the nazi's were just before WW II.
Cycles!
Well, they also know what Mr. Doom and gloom has said this: "Market has peaked out."
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100482286
So, this means what? The prices of everything continue to slump because people no longer have any money to spend?
More and more people are distancing themselves from Americans because most know they are being set up to lose the next world war?
Geeze, have you seen the newest movie called RED DAWN?
http://www.reddawnfilm.com/#/home
Mission accomplished?
Can you spell depression?
OK, an easier one. Can you spell...war?
more like, is it better to be liked or feared ???
When did "hate" and "fear" start to mean the same thing?
Polar Bears love Obama.
He's making the waters recede and the Earth to heal...2.0.
http://www.kirklandviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/PolarBearSmile.jpg
Storing abroad?!
The question is how to get it abrod from this shithole?!
Can't get a broad? Who you going to call?... DSK
I live on the US/Canadian border. Many people cross back and forth every day without ever going through customs or immigration. You can go by boat or go by land. No problem.
I always wonder why I shouldn't store my gold more close and personally.
Is it just me?
You're crazy to have an overseas 3rd Party hold your precious metals, even in one of the few sane nations like Switzerland. You might as well simply trade paper if you're going that route.
If you want physical gold, you need to store it yourself. Even a personal safety deposit box would be FAR safer than these gold custodian companies.
The sort of "event" we are heading for is an "all bets are off" sort of thing. No one knows what is coming. Diversification would be the best advice. Don't count on any institution. Or getting out of somewhere... Or being able to get in somewhere else... at least not through normal channels.
Almost certainly you will need gold in hand to bribe your way out, and then into
somewhere else,to get your gold stored there.
I find gardening very theraputic,at my property here, and overseas,if you know what I mean.
What you can expect to hear for the rest of your days as an American?
"I have altered the deal. Pray I do not alter it any further."
a source told me minutes ago, the Swiss Army is or just had gearing up for an FTX where they sealed off all entries to their country, using barbed-wire, etc.
What's going on??
They can do better than that if they need to. All the major passes into Switzerland are permanently ready for explosive closure with billions of tons of mountainside. 3 years ago they re did their calculations and upgraded the charges. They also have some massive sub alpine shelters and medical facilities. A swiss civil engineer friend is involved with maintaining such things during his annual army duties as an officer in their 'part time, army. He just finished a 12 month stint on leave from his civilian job.
They can do better than that if they need to
***********
I can confirm your words-having recently had that very discussion with a Swiss citizen-
Mystical little Switzerland for centuries--holding the money and watching the rest of the planet self implode-
Who cares?
This affects nobody other than over leveraged long gold traders, who are going to get slammed next week.
Nobody here is doing that are they??
Damn! I just wish I had some gold to park in Singapore. See, I stupidly brought all my gold and silver with me when I went racing with my buddies last year. The boom hit me in the head and knocked it all overboard. Now it's on the bottom of Lake Erie. So very sad.
.
You should have kept quiet about it. Now they know where to look.
So...how much gold do you have to have to hit the radar of these 'storage banks'. I'm assuming people are not sending off their 40 Krugerrands to Singapore to have them assayed and stored. Is this only for big money boys? Kilo minimums? etc...
Big money boys don't have anything to do with Simon Black.
A sophisticated version of a gold ban. Buying, selling or posessing gold remains legal, but you can't store it. Next IRA could request excessive paperwork, on every ounce you bought, sold, own.
Yes, the Irish Nationalists love paperwork.
Gold confiscation... highly unlikely. Heavy gold taxation... very very likely. Pretty soon Americans won't have overseas bank accts or gold storage. Uncle Sam wants to be able to keep tabs on all of its citizens money and assets. When you try to spend your gold for staples... they'll getcha.
Alarmists are infecting readers and listeners with the assertion that... "you must buy gold now because any day the USD will become totally worthless paper". IMHO, It isn't ok to scare and de-stablize people regarding their income, wealth and future.
Those of you who have been reduced to a state of worry and trepidation by these assertions... please read the Martin Armstrong article cited below for some economic history and logic on this matter.
The USA is the largest economy that there has ever been in this world. And has the most powerful military. It has been the capital of the financial world for a significant amount of time. The world has been "dollarized". These conditions just don't go away over night. They decay slowly. It doesn't matter if other currencies are used for trade. The USD will still be the reserve currency and the destination for any "flight to safety" whenever there is a global or domestic crisis or scare. The USD is all over the world and in the coffers of all major countries, and USTs form a large part of most country's reserves. All this current CB printing is being offset by the deflationary trends and de-leveraging that is going on, and the velocity of money is very low as a result.
The US government and The Fed work for the bankers and the big multi-nationals... if the USD turned into toilet paper over night, all bank assets (loans) would become more worthless than they already are. Do you think that would be allowed? If interest rates soared as a result of high inflation, the US government would not be able to service the debt. Do you think that will be allowed to happen?
The only reason Weimar, Argentina and Zimbabwe had hyper-inflation was because they didn't have bond markets (and they had currencies that had no significance to the rest of the world). The value of the USD will just continue to erode on a protracted path. It will go out with a wimper, not a bang—similar to how the British pound sterling lost its reserve status before the USD took over.
Owning tangible assets such as income properties, farm land, stocks/businesses, and gold is the investor's protective mechanism to offset inflation.
We're even moving another step away from real money by going from paper to digits: all currencies will soon be electronic and we'll be doing all of our consumerism, business, trading, tax paying, etc. electronically. But, we'll still be dealing in and with the USD in electronic form.
Yet, as Armstrong says, the USD won't be replaced until countries stop using debt for their reserves. I believe it's gonna be a long time coming before that happens.
CAN THE WORLD REALLY ABANDON THE DOLLAR AS A RESERVE CURRENCY? By Martin Armstrong
http://armstrongeconomics.com/693-2/2013-2/can-the-world-really-abandon-...
Enjoy your U.S. Tax liability, peasants of the great Republic. LOL
Forgotten burried gold, become burried gold treasure stories of the future.
With currency debasement, lessening purchasing power and continual inflationary policies there are only a few choices.
Residential rental properties.
Commercial rental properties (medical, office, etc.).
Farm land (to be leased for income).
Solid blue chip staple based company stocks.
Commodities.
Energy.
Food.
Water.
Gold.
I'm not excited about the above and really don't want to deploy my capital into them but do I have any choice? Nope.
The best place to store your gold is the New York Fed. They would not bother looking there because they know they have already stripped the joint.
Like one of the experts (G.N.) I have consulted thinks the gov will not confiscate personal gold and silver. It would be too hard since it's not in circulation and too many people hold it and can or have buried it. Rather they will take what they need from mines (wonder why mine stocks are low?) and various funds that have stored the stuff (I worry about CEF and GTU).
Anyway, lead seems more valuable than gold, and they don't like us having either for obvious reasons. Rock on. I think we all need to work on coolness and getalong.
El Dude
I don't think that that any single-mode of PM-protection is 'bullet-proof', so to speak. Even self-storing in the US has its risks. At the latest, when you will eventually have to dig it up and cash it in for the existing FRNs or some new currency. At that point you have NO assurance that you won't get 'whacked' (taxed) in some form. You may have 'hopes' that you won't, but you do not have the certainty. And "hope is not a strategy".
All clever hi-risk scenarios (with unacceptable consequences) involve a series or cascading layers of risk mitigation, to bias the stats in your favor. If I wanted to protect a significant amount of PM, I'd keep some (a) at home in the safe, (b) some buried safely, and (c) some held abroad. Each addresses a different scenario and need. That would be the rational and smart thing to do. For those who subscribe to such approaches.
The portion held abroad is purely for the scenario of wanting or having to expat out of the US -- not for everyone, of course -- and not being able to do so with the PM held in the US. With enough due diligence, or probably subscribing to Simon's service ($9/mo?), one can leverage that process nicely. I accept at face value that he knows of some excellent & safe offshore places. Since most of us are not in the 7-figure-plus net worth club, for me the heartburn comes with the 1-2% p.a. storage fees eating into the the PM -- which is counter to its function as a "storage of wealth". Unless and until proven otherwise, I contend that ALL offshore commercial storage facilities are over-priced.
Simon: if you know of 'sensible' storage costs offshore, please contact me. They should not cost more than 0.5% p.a., or I'm better off having an offshore Safety Deposit (SD) box. Not that I claim here that I have any significant PM holdings, but if I did, I'd want to have a plan for the offshore scenario. We all know that SD Boxes can hold several hundred ounces of gold or platinum, per box per bank -- for an economical $80-150/yr. And if one has dual citizenship, well... what business is it to anyone on the planet what you do with your lawfully earned after-tax money? And wealth-robbing, FRB-fiat-money at that! Is it fascism or a 'republic' that we pledge allegiance to?
The tartan Scottish "Cheap Bastard" genes of the Kirk clan must be coming through. ;-)
Foreign storage facility? Fuck that shit. Better off buying foreign property and burying it yourself.
this means one thing : they are going to tax the hell out of gold. hide them, people. hide them well.
Storing gold overseas makes sense no matter what happens.
That assumes all problems will be at home, no consideration is made about problems occuring abroad, say in the country you're storing in. Think it can't and won't happen? Think when it happens they'll be happy to let you rotate to another country vault while they take a potential loss? Think again.
Governments have habits of making rules up to suit their needs, when Iceland went broke and let banks fail, Gordon Brown used terrorism laws to seize private company assets of Icelandic companies operating out of the UK. That was done so quickly no one had time to do anything. When they want your yellow stuff and it's stored in their country, how long will it take them pull something similar?
We all saw the cover up of MF Global and ignore it in daily activities, still making trades, I'm all right Jack? because it was in the past and most likely didn't directly affect us. When it does, you'll realise storing physicals in other countries is probably worse than keeping under the mattress at home.
What a cunt Simon Black is.
What idiots give him money?
FYI; only private accounts impacts. Official response from Gold Money re: storage
Thank you for taking the time to contact us and to express your concerns.
We are aware of VIA MAT’s change of policy regarding individuals with potential US tax liabilities.
However, please be advised that this does not impact GoldMoney customers since you do not have a direct relationship with VIA MAT when you store metals at VIA MAT vaults with GoldMoney.
For more information, please see the following FAQ:
http://www.goldmoney.com/faq/are-us-residents-allowed-to-hold-metal-with...
http://www.goldmoney.com/documents/US-VIAMAT.pdf