Golden Milestones: A Journey Through History
Gold’s journey has hit a new milestone, soaring to an all-time high of $2,195 this month. Gold Reached Record Highs AgainOn 8 March, gold made history again when it jumped up as high as $2,195/oz. Analysts are scrambling to update their forecasts, signaling a bullish outlook for 2024. Billionaires Mark Zuckerburg and Sam Altman Allegedly Buy GoldJonathan Rose, CEO of Genesis Gold Group, notes a trend: he says the wealthy, including Mark Zuckerberg and Sam Altman, are increasingly investing in gold for emergency preparedness. Situated in Beverly Hills, Rose says tech moguls to pro athletes are purchasing gold to secure their future. The Big Number: $3.3 TrillionThat big number is the amount of gold held by investors, according to strategist Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou from JP Morgan. While that number may sound impressive, it only represents about 1.4% of the value of all global investments. Bitcoin Hits Record Above $73,500Bitcoin hit a record high on 13 March above $73,500. According to LSEG data, flows of capital into the 10 largest U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds slowed to a two-week low in the week ending March 8, but still reached almost $2 billion. Article courtesy of Gold and Silver
Important Update: All High-Value dealers responsible for important FICA Compliance update
Dear Valued Clients, We trust this newsletter finds you well We are writing to bring your attention to a significant development that affects all high-value dealers within our sector. Recent changes in legislation have officially designated the precious metal investments industry as an accountable institution under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA). This move aims to enhance transparency and combat financial crimes related to high-value goods. On 19 December 2022, a new category was added to the list of accountable institutions in Schedule 1 of the FICA, 2001, as one of the steps to address gaps in South Africa’s anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism policies. This law may apply to your business. A high-value goods dealer (HVGD) – Item 20 of Schedule 1 to FICA Item 20 in Schedule 1 to FICA provides as follows: A HVGD includes “a person who carries on the business of dealing in high-value goods in respect of any transaction where such a business receives payment in any form to the value of R100 000,00 or more, whether the payment is made in a single operation or in more than one operation that appears to be linked, where ‘high-value goods’ means any item that is valued in that business at R100 000,00 or more.” This definition is intended to cover a wide range of trading activity. Based on preliminary guidance from the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), this category of accountable institutions includes, among others, dealers in precious metals, precious stones and diamonds. A HVGD also includes dealers in antiques, collectibles, fine art, boats, aircraft and luxury motor vehicles where the value is equal to or more than R100 000. The following obligations are imposed on accountable institutions in terms of FICA. An accountable institution must: To register, click here : https://goweb.fic.gov.za/goAMLWeb_PRD/WebRegistration/NewEntityCR Directive 7 of 2023: Submission of a risk and compliance return to the FIC by specified accountable institutions Directive 7 was issued by the FIC on 31 March 2023 and applies to all accountable institutions listed in inter alia item 20 (this applies to high-value goods dealers). It instructs accountable institutions to submit information on their understanding of money laundering and related financial crimes, together with their assessment of compliance with obligations in terms of FICA, in a risk and compliance return. The submission date of the ‘risk and compliance return questionnaire’ is 31 July 2023 (reporting will be from 1 January 2023 to 30 June 2023). Here’s a link to the online portal: RISK COMPLIANCE RETURN QUESTIONNAIRE (office.com) Side note: This return is to see what your understanding is in terms of FICA and what processes and policies you have in place. If you have no / little understanding of FICA or processes in place, just be honest. Even if you answer no to everything. This is how FIC will be able to assess where more training, education and assistance are needed. They have given a lot of leeway for submission as the deadline has long passed. But if you submit your return now, the chances of being penalised are greatly diminished. As the precious metal investments industry embraces this new era of accountability, we encourage you to view FICA compliance not only as a regulatory obligation but also as an opportunity to strengthen your business practices and contribute to the integrity of our industry. Yours sincerely,CPM Compliance Team
