I have an allocated storage account at Aus bullion company in Melbourne, from the past two inspections conducted myself I found out that they actually changed my pamp 1kg silver bars. Though in right quantity, I'm still quite concerned that it might indicate they do not hold enough bars against all claims. Who has the similar experience? Does anyone know if there is an organisation that oversights the gold bullion companies?
Interesting ! What they might be doing ( might be ) is having run out of pamp bars ( as they are highest premium silver bars ) and subbed your allocated with ABC bars for example. - so as to pocket the difference in premiums. In their accounting - you still have your correct allocation in silver and nothing wrong was done
You might want to check your account contract to see if you allocation is based on a "same" or a "like-for-like" arrangement. That is, do you own "1kg PAMP silver bar" or "1kg PAMP silver bar with serial number xxxxxxx".
not exactly, in my case, i first audited my bars a half year ago, pamp bars had serial codes started all with 07xxxx and 08xxxx, but recently when i audited again, the bars are new ones with codes starting with 13xxxx. they touched an allocated account, that's quite contrary to what allocated means.
this is an example that illustrates what they have done with your stash They took out Crowns and subbed you with 50 Cent pieces and in the end your amount of silver in the stash stayed the same ! But a Crown is 0.84 oz for $40 50 Cent is 0.34 oz for $13 ( So at $13 per 50 Cents than 0.84 oz is $32.11 ) they pocketed the difference in premiums thats what they have done. imo
yeh they changed to different pamps, and i don't like the new pamps, old pamps are kinda shiny proofed, the new ones are not and look rough
I don't know if there are different types of allocated accounts, but I can see how the dealer would think there isn't any difference provided that you have a certain number of a certain type of bullion product in your account. What would concern me is if I was paying for a safety deposit box-style facility that someone else had been rummaging though.
Have you discussed this issue beforehand with ABC for an explanation? It's important to clarify the situation with them - as Big A.D. said, it may be a case of "like for like" allocation. I suggest checking directly with the dealer - that way you get a direct answer rather than (no offence intended to anyone) possibly uninformed responses here.
True ... I have an allocated account there as well. It was explained to me at the time, and it sounds like what has happened is within the terms of my agreement with them. However, these things may have changed in the 2 years since I opened my allocated account.
You mean you have an allocated account with ABC Melbourne for 2 years now? But I think they only started offering fee based allocated accounts about one year ago? I opened an account with them before they started offering allocated accounts, and as an old customer they upgraded my account to allocated as well at the inception of the new service, without the annual fee. I was quite happy with that, even though ABC Melbourne's price is above ABC Sydney's, that means essentially I've paid for the storage in form of their higher premium. And there is no terms of agreement when they told me about the upgrade, but they did explain that my bars are locked up and no one will touch. Apparently that's not true...
My account was free (like yours) when I opened it. I don't think it was called allocated at the time. But now I'm pretty sure that's what I have. I'll dig around and see if I can find my T&Cs.
...this is exactly the worry i have with "allocated accounts".....it just proves that unless you actually take possession of the physical bullion you have NO control over it.....i sincerely wish you luck in getting your PAMPS back.....hopefully - at least shinny ones!!!!
Am I right in understanding that the requisite number of PAMPS are still there in the right denominations and bars, but you now have slightly shiner ones with different rego plates on em?
Yes, they are still the 1kilo pamp bars. but the new ones i saw in the recent trip had numbers like 1xxxxx, they looked very rough on their surface, almost like the ABC's own products. The pamp bars i saw in my first trip a half year ago were indeed quite shinny ones and they had numbers like 07xxxx. so, I'm sure they have changed my bars. I suggest you go there and see if your bars also have serial number like 1xxxxx, depending when you purchased them and whether they played chicken to your bars too. And if they still permit in the future you should go check regularly. ABC Sydney doesn't allow for inspection in person. I recently wen to Sydney on business, and in passing to their office collected one 1kilo pamp bar i recently bought with them. the serial code on that bar also states 1xxxxx. That means the ones that now I have in melbourne ABC are also farely new pamp bars. all in all, abc melb disgusts me a bit now. and new pamp bars disgust me even more... Still is there a regulator that oversights bullion companies?
Apart from AUSTRAC from an anti-money laundering perspective, just the relevant state consumer protection / fair trading authorities. I would absolutely discuss this with ABC first though if you're displeased.
Well, the Govt. can't seek to regulate that which they don't officially recognize as money. Having said that, the CASH component of such businesses is highly regulated by AUSTRAC and the likes. But the governance over the storage of physical bullion is effectively the same as that over the storage of wheat (or other commodities), which is really none, other than what is covered by standard contract legislation.
You should definitely discuss it with ABC first and see what they say (and report back - not just for my own curiosity - I am interested to hear what their explanation is).
