Metal account
Metal account is a bank account on which precious metals ( gold , silver , platinum or palladium ) are booked. The credit can represent a delivery claim of the account holder for a certain amount of precious metal from the bank's inventory.
General
The precious metal booked as account balance ( credit balance ) is the non-physical virtual inventory that does not become the property of the account holder. The precious metal account is not in euros like normal current accounts , but in a certain type and amount of precious metal. The purchase and trade takes place in the units of quantity customary for precious metals ( e.g. the troy ounce or kilogram for gold ).
Metal accounts are suitable for investors who do not want to physically purchase precious metals because they are associated with safe custody and a locker is not required. If an investor still wants to participate in the performance of a precious metal, there is the option of non-physical purchase on metal accounts as an alternative. The metal account is also an important technical requirement for traders who want to exploit volatilities in metal prices through speculation .
Account types
There are unallocated ( English non allocated ) and associated ( english allocated ) precious metal accounts. Only co-ownership shares in an inventory are posted to the unallocated metal accounts. This form of metal accounts is widespread in Switzerland and Austria . On assigned metal accounts, ownership of the purchased metals is assigned directly and individually to the respective account holder via serial or warehouse numbers. The account holder receives a reference to the depository ( e.g. loco London ). Since the metals are owned by the account holder, he has a physical right to delivery of the booked precious metals at any time.
Interest, Fees and Taxes
There is no interest on the account balance, buying and selling are possible at any time for a fee . In the standard case, there is no physical delivery claim. Then the purchaser is not interested in the physical delivery of the precious metal. Since the purchaser and account holder does not become the owner of the metal, there is no VAT liability. However, if a physical delivery claim is agreed, then VAT will be charged on the precious metal price on the day of the crediting , provided that tax liability is provided for a specific metal.
Investment risk and deposit insurance
The precious metal prices ( gold price , silver price ) are usually given in foreign currency ( US dollars ), so there is a currency risk for metal accounts in euros . The precious metal prices are sometimes subject to high volatility , which can also result in a price risk . That is why metal accounts are in the worst risk class for investors .
In the event of the bankruptcy of the bank holding the account, the metal balances are not subject to deposit protection in accordance with the Deposit Protection Act (EinSiG), because their balances are not repayable at their nominal value ( Section 2 (2) EinSiG); As a rule, the metal value or market value is repayable .
However, the assets of the assigned metal accounts trigger a claim for extradition by the account holder as the owner and are therefore separable according to § 47 InsO , i.e. can be taken from the bankruptcy estate by the investor .
The form of investment in metal accounts is still rarely found in Germany and is often only common in Switzerland, Austria or Luxembourg .
