Swiss stock exchange bets on gold

by Sophie Douez
Swiss Info
Sep. 27, 2011

Is gold becoming the new currency? The Swiss stock exchange will soon offer clients the possibility of having post-trade profits paid out in gold.

Introducing the new service, post-trade specialists operating on the Swiss stock exchange Six Securities Services (a subsidiary of Six Group, owner of the Swiss stock exchange) said the new payment versus delivery service using gold was the first of its kind in the world and would operate “exactly like” a new currency.

The Swiss stock exchange and Scoach Switzerland, the stock market for structured products, plan to introduce the listing and trading of products in XAU gold units (equal to one troy ounce of gold) in October.

Clients wishing to take advantage of the new payment versus delivery service will need to have an account denominated in XAU gold with Six Securities Services, as they would have an account in euros, francs or dollars, Six spokesman Alain Bichsel told swissinfo.ch.

And although there is no minimum requirement on the amount a client has in the gold account, the account will need to be stocked well enough to cover the proposed trade – as with any other currency, says the company.

Gold will be valued in dollars and stocked at Six’s gold warehouse facilities in Olten, northern Switzerland. Gold account keeping fees have yet to be determined.

“Gold is like the new currency,” Bichsel explained. “You can trade about 23 currencies on the Swiss stock exchange. It works exactly the same as a new currency.”

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