Finally, what the West once did—looting the East-- has been paid back although in a different coin and note. See this excerpt from China Post which says that the riches—bars of precious metals like gold and silver, to start with--held by Westerners and Asians are being moved to East.
“We have a lot of enquiries from European banks, not because they want to move the assets necessarily to Asia, but because their clients are asking them to,” said Joshua Rotbart, general manager of Malca-Amit Precious Metals Ltd. [The firm specialises in storing and moving of precious metals and operates from multiple locations.]
“The clients don't want gold held in the U.S. or Switzerland. They want to move it here.”
The clients of Malca Amit includes rich Asians as well who may prefer their gold to be in vaults closer to home.
Now let's go back in time and see a Rooseveltian Presidential order dated April 5, 1933 that punished individuals who hoarded gold in US:
“I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, do declare that said national emergency still continues to exist and pursuant to said section to do hereby prohibit the hoarding gold coin, gold bullion, and gold certificates within the continental United States by individuals, partnerships, associations and corporations...” see the word continental?
Coming back to the present, only High Net-worth Individuals (HNIs) would hoard gold in such a huge quantity so as to fear its confiscation. Not that the gold is being changed from one vault to another. It is being changed from one nation to another. One area of sovereignty to another.
So, what is so creepy about the west that is prompting these HNIs to move gold. Are they fearing a recession to recur or even worse, a depression? One should assume so.
The HNIs get quality insider information and advice from various sources on economy and economic situations and they will not do something as vital as moving their gold across oceans without having some valid reason.
One may note that their preferred destination is Singapore: well-governed city-state known for its stable economy which on many counts would be more depression-proof and thus devoid of a threat of confiscation.
“Gold coin and bullion earmarked or held in trust for a recognized foreign government or foreign central bank or the Bank for International Settlements” had been exempted by Roosevelt from his order. If this be taken as a precedent, then it can be safely assumed that even if Singapore, or any other Asian country for that matter, comes up with another legislation to confiscate gold, the gold would arguably still be safe.
Singapore, for example, would not want to incur the wrath of Americans or any other country for confiscating the wealth of its citizens; especially in times of depression, would they?
No comments:
Post a Comment