Overview of Gold Bullion Storage in a Private Gold Vault in Singapore

Buying physical gold bullion for asset protection or investment is an extremely smart and very popular move among high-net-worth individuals (HWNIs) and investors. However, that is just one part of the wealth protection equation. It is equally important for gold buyers to find the right gold storage vaults and countries to store gold to ensure that their investment-grade gold bullion is safely stored and secure.

Silver Bullion operates its own gold and silver vault, The Safe House , in Singapore to give our clients' physical precious metals the best protection and storage options from the financial storms in the global economy.

Here are the reasons why you may want to store precious metals with us in our private gold storage in Singapore.

Why store gold in Singapore?

Singapore has proved to be one of the safest jurisdictions in the world. As one of the countries with the lowest level of corruption and the lowest crime rates, Singapore was also ranked first on the Economist Intelligence Unit's Best Countries for Doing Business Report in 2023 and The Heritage Foundation's 2023 Index of Economic Freedom.

Foreign investor confidence and trust in Singaporean financial institutions and legislation is pivotal for the sustainability of Singapore. Support for foreign investments, especially the investment in precious metals such as investment-grade gold and silver bullion, comes directly from the Singaporean government. Namely, the government of Singapore is one of the few global governments that hasn't been known to confiscate precious metals in times of overall economic collapse. Moreover, the government works diligently to promote the protection of private property, bullion included.

In addition, Singapore allows foreign businesses and individuals to import investment-grade bullion tax-free. Non-taxable bullion (Investment Precious Metals or IPM) is classified as a financial asset.

Moreover, companies that provide gold bullion storage, such as Silver Bullion, aren't considered financial institutions and are not subject to regulations imposed on ‘'traditional'' financial institutions such as banks.

With the rise of geopolitical risks around the world, it is heartening to know that the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) is considered a mid-sized military that is capable of defending the country. Singapore has consistently had one of the largest defense budgets in the Asia-Pacific region - often nearly three times that of its closest neighbor Malaysia and 25 percent more than Indonesia – the largest country in Southeast Asia.

Unbeknownst to many, Singapore also has a thriving military hardware manufacturing industry which underscores its commitment to defense technology. Collaborations between the Defence Science & Technology Agency and ST Engineering have developed arms including the SAR21 assault rifle, BRONCO All-Terrain Vehicle (with 100 sold to Britain), Terrex Armored Personnel Carrier (evaluated by the US Marine Corps), armored fighting vehicles, drones, and howitzers. Singapore is consistently ranked globally within the top 30 countries for arms export by total volume.

Without a doubt, Singapore is one of the safest countries to store gold in the world.

STORING IN PRIVATE GOLD VAULTS VS. BANK VAULTS

Storing gold in a bank vault may carry risks of a bank collapse, like Lehman Brothers' collapse in the 2008 financial crisis, and gold confiscation or nationalization, like President Roosevelt's directive in 1933. Most of the banks are multinational companies and it is not always clear whether they will abide by the local laws or follow the instructions from their headquarters, which might be in a foreign jurisdiction.

In addition, banks having business exposure in foreign jurisdictions may have a higher chance of being pressured to accede to governmental gold repatriation demands.

Clients need to make sure that they are the legal title owners of their stored bullion and not just holders of paper certificates, which is often the practice with banks unless specifically requested by clients otherwise. The best way to be sure is to have segregated gold storage, with the physical bullion uniquely identifiable so that ownership can be ascertained without a doubt.

Privacy is one of the main concerns when it comes to bank vaults. The safe deposit boxes (SDBs) in bank vaults can usually be opened only by clients with already existing bank accounts. This information is held on an online IT system and is subject to outside hacking attacks, and is most likely reportable to authorities. Also, the contents of safe deposit boxes kept in banks are often subject to inspections and, in some radical cases, even seizures by the bank, as it was the case with a number of Greek banks during the 2015 eurozone crisis.

Insurance is another very important issue that private vaults pay much more attention to than bank vaults. Bank safe deposit boxes are often uninsured since the depositor is not required to declare the box's contents. Even in cases where insurance is available, bank vaults have general insurance policies that are not specifically tailor-made for wealth protection. There are certain clauses (usually in small print) that clients need to understand in order to be sure that what they are getting is true ‘all risk' insurance for their stored gold and silver.

Additionally, private vaults are much more transparent than most bank vaults. Most bank vaults either do not allow or make it very difficult for personal visits and independent audits by clients. There were even some cases where bank clients could not withdraw their precious metals but were offered to be paid in cash instead. By contrast, private vaults generally allow their clients much better ease of access.

All things considered, anyone looking for a safe gold storage option should choose a private gold vault with segregated storage for their gold bullion in a safe jurisdiction with transparent operations that allow personal audits and easy withdrawals (and ideally even a guaranteed buyback), full privacy with personal information safely kept (offline) and a true ‘all risk' insurance that fully covers all of the precious metals.

THE SAFE HOUSE: STATE-OF-THE-ART GOLD BULLION STORAGE VAULT IN SINGAPORE

Since neither Silver Bullion nor its vaulting subsidiary The Safe House, are classified as financial institutions, they are only subjected to Singaporean laws and regulations. This means that gold and silver bullion stored in The Safe House is out of reach of any foreign (tax or financial) authority such as the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Additionally, foreign regulations such as Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) or the OECD-initiated Common Reporting System (CRS) do not apply to Silver Bullion and The Safe House. This, therefore, ensures that clients' gold bullion is safe from any unforeseen events such as nationalizations, seizures or confiscations that have happened in the past in many countries across the globe. Any request for customers' precious metals holdings will need to be submitted via the Singapore courts.

The Safe House has state-of-the-art high security. Our vault is guarded by armed Singapore Auxiliary Police and has 24/7 monitoring services and CCTV backup. In addition, the facility is equipped with quadruple alarm type sensors and 2.5 tons Class I vault door for our silver storage and a Class II vault door for our gold storage. This gold vault is located within the silver vault and is, therefore, a vault secured within a vault.

As of 2023, all precious metals in our gold and silver storage are fully insured for up to SGD 800 million for any one loss. Our comprehensive insurance policy is underwritten by Lloyd's of London - the world's leading insurance market. It covers theft, fire, building collapse, terrorism and sabotage, and infidelity of employees (inside jobs). More importantly. our insurance policy also includes coverage against mysterious disappearance, a clause not commonly included by most vault operators making the insurance coverage at the Safe House a true 'all risk' insurance.

SILVER BULLION'S S.T.A.R. STORAGE AND SAFE DEPOSIT BOXES IN SINGAPORE

The Safe House vault offers two types of private gold storage and silver storage: S.T.A.R. Storage (available via Silver Bullion) and Safe Deposit Boxes (operated by The Safe House). Each vault storage option is specially designed to meet different client needs and preferences. Below are some of the basic differences between our gold and silver storage options.

S.T.A.R. Storage

S.T.A.R. Storage is designed for customers' convenience for their precious metals storage needs.

S.T.A.R. Storage clients can purchase bullion online for storage at The Safe House. Photos of the purchased precious metals are made available to clients in their online accounts upon order completion. Storage fees are charged on a per troy ounce per year basis depending on the amount of precious metals ounces stored.

Just as with buying gold, clients can easily sell their stored bullion online at any time. Selling back gold, silver and platinum from S.T.A.R. Storage is guaranteed. As with buying prices, our selling prices are also transparently displayed online, allowing our clients to decide when is the best time to liquidate their bullion. Funds can be wired to clients within 5 business days.

S.T.A.R. Storage also offers clients the option to use their stored gold, silver, and platinum as collateral to obtain loans through Silver Bullion's online Bullion Secured Peer-to-Peer (P2P) loan platform. The borrowers can collateralize their stored bullion (which gets locked for the duration of the loan) to obtain loans at affordable low-interest rates. The lenders can obtain good returns, oftentimes with yields higher than bank deposits, by lending cash to borrowers. All loans have between a 50% to 62.5% loan-to-value ratio (LtV) depending on the collateralized metal and loan tenure. Our loan platform gives our clients the additional option to unlock liquidity from their precious metals stored in our vault.

Safe Deposit Boxes (SDBs)

The Safe House's safe deposit boxes are designed for customers' privacy. Client data is stored offline without Internet access, thus eliminating any possibility of hacking.

Since the safe deposit boxes' keys are held only by the client, any adding or removing items from the box will require clients to be physically present at our Singapore vault. Depositing or withdrawing bullion from a safe deposit box also requires the signatures of two of our vault officers, an auxiliary police officer, and the client. This ensures that safe deposit boxes are only opened or closed with verification by multiple parties.

For international clients who are unable to be present in Singapore, we allow for an initial remote deposit of bullion into a newly hired box. Namely, our vault officers will place the bullion purchased through Silver Bullion into a safe deposit box and sealed on behalf of the client. The whole process is video recorded and the video is sent to the client together with the key. After that, the safe deposit box can only be opened in the presence of the client or an authorized representative.

CONTACT US TO LEARN MORE

If you are interested to start storing gold in Singapore, please contact us for our customer service representative to assist you!

Email: [email protected]

You can also call us at the following phone numbers.
Singapore: +65 6100 3040
US: +1 (848) 285-5466
UK: +44 114 697 7458
European: +31 970 102 57458
Australian: +61 480 097 458

Our contact hours are:
Mondays to Fridays: 7am-2am (19 hours)
Saturdays: 10am-2pm