BullionStar In The News

On 11 August 2021, the famous 'Gold Newsletter', the world’s oldest and precious metals and mining stock publication, featured coverage of an article by BullionStar’s precious metals analyst Ronan Manly about the 9 August COMEX gold price flash crash.

Writing about the flash crash, Brien Lundin, editor of Gold NewsLetter, said:

“I could go on in describing what happened Sunday in great detail, but whatever I write here won’t be nearly as good as the summary penned by Ronan Manly of BullionStar.

I urge you to read his fascinating play-by-play recap of this latest criminal manipulation.”

Brien Lundin’s article can be read here.

Ronan Manly’s article, titled “Gold Price Smash in Paper - But Physical Demand on Fire” was published on 10 August, and can be read here.  

Brien Lundin has been editor of the Gold Newsletter since 1993, and is also CEO of the New Orleans Investment Conference. The Gold Newsletter, the world’s oldest and precious metals and mining stock publication, has been published for 50 years and was founded by the famed Jim Blanchard in 1971.

Effective 1 March 2021, BullionStar will have a new CEO. Luke Chua, currently COO, is taking over from founder Torgny Persson.

Statement from Torgny Persson

I'm excited to announce that I will transition to be the chair of the board of directors and Luke Chua will take over as the CEO. With BullionStar having several exciting inventions in the pipeline, the company will continue to excel. With Luke leading the operations in his position as COO over the last 5 years, Luke has contributed to the company's growth in an outstanding fashion and has my full confidence.

BullionStar couldn't be better positioned for the future. We are growing in every measurable way. Since COVID hit about a year ago, our sales revenue and customer base has increased significantly. For our current financial year ending 30 June 2021, we are on track to significantly increase our revenue to the by far highest figure in the company's history.

With a philosophy of introducing modern technology into the age-old industry of precious metals, BullionStar has been particularly successful in making the customer experience straightforward and user-friendly. The grassroots support for the company is very strong which is reflected by the more than 2,000 positive customer reviews of the company, with an average rating of 4.8, on Google Reviews.

Statement from Luke Chua

Our vision from the onset, is to disrupt the industry and to make precious metals incredibly accessible, convenient, and available at great prices to everyone all over the world. In a world where technology has enabled us to marry the ease and accessibility of purchasing precious metals online with the physical requirements of handling and storing bullion, this vision is becoming more and more of a reality each passing day, especially since the supercharged adoption of online purchasing acceptability as an after effect of the COVID pandemic.

With the record high demand for precious metals, our company has roughly doubled our team size over the last year and is set to increase further as the company continues to grow quickly and aggressively. At the same time, I will continue to strive to bring out the best within each individual in our team and ensure that BullionStar continues to be one of the best companies to work for.

As we grow, our focus will be to uphold our commitment in offering a first-class customer experience for our clients, take on new opportunities by innovating and disrupting the status quo further, and continue to scale our operations to be able to cater to the exponential demand we foresee coming and to some extent has begun already.

New CFO at BullionStar

BullionStar is furthermore excited to welcome Kevin Mottura as its new Chief Financial Officer. Kevin is taking over from the previous CFO Malin Persson.

Kevin has extensive industry knowledge and experience having previously served as Group Finance Controller for South East Asia at MKS PAMP GROUP, where PAMP operates one of the largest and most prestigious precious metals refinery in the world located in Switzerland.

Prior to that, Kevin had worked in Europe with a statutory auditor, a financial due diligence and valuation company before moving to Asia where he worked for 9 years in managerial finance and business controlling positions across Asia. Given his experience working in international teams, both in listed and non-listed companies across diverse sectors, we are confident of the leadership and value that he brings as we embark on our next phase of international growth as a company.

Kevin holds a master’s degree in management from Grenoble School of Management.

On 9 February 2021, the famous daily market commentary “The King Report”, written by Bill King, market strategist of US based M.Ramsey King Securities, quoted the BullionStar research report by Ronan Manly about silver-backed ETF holdings in London vaults.

The King Report is one of the most respected subscription daily market commentaries about financial markets, and is a must read on Wall Street and in “some of the largest financial institutions throughout the US and Europe”. The King Report has been published daily for 27 years now, with the 9 February 2021 edition being Issue 6444.

Citing the recent BullionStar article titled '"Houston, we have a Problem”: 85% of Silver in London already held by ETFs', The King Report’s direct quote from the article to its audience was as follows:   

“Which is why it now looks like the bullion banks torpedoed the COMEX / LBMA price of silver on Monday 1 February and Tuesday 2 February so as to paint the tape and attempt to break investor sentiment and prevent further inflows into the silver ETFs… In short, the scarcity of available silver in the London LBMA vaults is far more advanced than most people think…”

Global financial and markets news platform Bloomberg today quoted BullionStar’s Ronan Manly in an article discussing unprecedented demand for silver and associated price movements in the silver market.

In a section of the article focusing on the physical silver market, Bloomberg wrote:

“In Singapore, orders remain high and U.S. Mint American Silver Eagle 1-ounce coins are commanding a premium of 46%, more than double a week ago, said Ronan Manly, a precious metals analyst at Singapore dealer BullionStar."

Note however that the Bloomberg article fails to recognise that the COMEX silver price, established by trading in paper silver markets, does not accurately reflect the huge demand being seen in the physical silver market, and that the physical silver price has diverged on the upside, above the COMEX / LBMA silver price.   

The full Bloomberg article, which was published on 2 February 2021 and written by Bloomberg's Eddie Spence and Ranjeetha Pakiam, is titled “Silver Sinks as Investor Frenzy Cools and Reddit Backlash Grows”, and can be read here.

Leading financial news agency Reuters today quoted BullionStar’s precious metals analyst Ronan Manly in its weekly precious metals market wrap.

The Reuters article, titled “Asia Gold - Retail demand picks up; Chinese New Year to draw buyers”, published on 22 January, quotes Manly on the outlook for retail physical gold demand in the Asian market:

'“We envisage strong retail demand outlook over the next few months on the back of seasonal factors such as the upcoming Chinese New Year and the new 2021 bullion coin releases from the major national mints,” said Ronan Manly, precious metals analyst at BullionStar Singapore.'

The full article was published on the Reuters website here and also syndicated on major financial news sites Yahoo Finance and Investing.com, here and here, respectively,

On 1 October, the Budapest Business Journal, Hungary’s largest and oldest English-language business magazine, published an article about the size and dangers of the paper gold market, recommending that investors hold physical gold bars and coins as opposed to paper gold.

The article’s authors, Les Nemethy and Alberto Scalabrini, quote BullionStar on the size of the paper gold market, saying that “there is more paper gold traded in one day than all the physical reserves in the world, Bullionstar.com says, confirming the dominance of paper gold.”

The authors go on to highlight many of the themes that BullionStar has pioneered in explaining, including the dominance of the LBMA and COMEX in gold price discovery with physical gold as a price taker, the fact that the LBMA bullion banks trade ‘unallocated gold”, a form of fractional reserve banking, and the opacity of the LBMA and London market.

Quoting another theme pursued by BullionStar, Nemethy and Scalabrini highlight that there is a risk of a paper gold crisis developing where, at a tipping point, a critical mass of paper gold holders demand conversion to physical, causing a run on physical gold, saying that “there is, Bullionstar.com points out, a risk of a disconnect between physical and paper gold prices.” 

The full article, which is titled “An Upcoming Paper Gold Crisis?”, can be read in English here.

Following the high-profile Financial Times article on 7 August about Hong Kong gold holders moving their bullion out the Chinese territory, and which quoted BullionStar, both Asia Times and Business Insider picked up on the FT story with their own articles, and which include the BullionStar quotes published by the FT.

Asia Times is a leading pan-Asia digital news platform, headquartered in Hong Kong. Business Insider is a American based financial and news website owned by Axel Springer SE, Europe’s largest digital publishing house.

The Business Insider article, published on 7 August and titled “Hong Kong's rich are moving gold out of the country on fears of what China's draconian law may do to its autonomy”, can be read here.

The Financial Times (FT), one of the world’s leading business and financial markets newspapers, today quotes BullionStar in an article about wealthy gold holders moving their gold out of Hong Kong due to heightened concerns about the financial hub’s political and legal risk in light of the passing on Hong Kong’s recent security law.

Titled “Hong Kong’s wealthy move gold out of city on security law fears”, the FT article, by reporter Primrose Riordan, quotes BullionStar’s precious metals analyst, Ronan Manly, on the trend BullionStar has seen of gold storage moving from Hong Kong to Singapore and the rationale for that:  

“Investors are moving gold from Hong Kong to Singapore because they don’t like risk and uncertainty,” said Ronan Manly, precious metals analyst at Singapore gold storage operator BullionStar. Investors’ concerns included the city’s “stability and rule of law”, he said.

“This could, in the minds of gold holders, snowball into concerns about safety of bullion and even certainty of property rights,” he added.

The full FT article can be read on the Financial Times website here. 

Zing News, one of Vietnam’s most widely read news and media platforms, today published a feature article discussing whether the current gold bull market is sustainable or whether it is more like the gold market of 2011 (where the price peaked in the US $1920 region).

Like another Zing News article earlier in the month, this article included extensive quotes and explanations from BullionStar’s precious metals analyst, Ronan Manly, including the following:

“The strong uptrend of gold prices this year has many things in common with that of 2011. However, observers say that the current support for precious metal prices is more sustainable, strong and long-term. ‘Gold prices have already surpassed the record levels of nine years ago and will continue to rise,’ said Ronan Manly, a precious metals analyst at BullionStar (Singapore), told Zing

 The expert at BullionStar said that the factors driving the current gold price are much stronger than in 2011. According to him, the big central banks (the US Federal Reserve, Bank of England and Bank of Japan ) aggressive quantitative easing leads to currency depreciation and potentially hyperinflation.”

The Zing News feature, whose title roughly translates to “Is the current gold price rise identical to the year 2011?”, was published 31 July. For those who know Vietnamese, the full article can be read on the Zing News website here

Zing News, one of Vietnam’s leading news and media platforms, this week published an article examining the reasons behind the strong upward move in the gold price and its sustainability, quoting extensively from BullionStar’s precious metals analyst, Ronan Manly.

In Vietnam, which has a very strong tradition of gold ownership and use of physical gold in transactions, the Zingnews.vn digital newspaper has more than 35 million visitors each month.  

Zing’s article, which is in Vietnamese, was written by reporter Phuong Thao following a series of questions to BullionStar, and some of the article quotations include the following (translated into English):

“Talking to Zing, Mr. Ronan Manly, an expert on precious metals at BullionStar Singapore said that the world gold price is still very much supported by global monetary easing policies and economic and geopolitical instability.

‘One of the leading causes of rising gold prices is the global financial crisis which has caused major central banks to respond by money printing, quantitative easing, currency depreciation, and zero interest rate environments‘, Mr. Manly explained.

According to the BullionStar expert, following the Covid-19 epidemic, major central banks (including US Federal Reserve, Bank of England and Bank of Japan) have strongly loosened monetary policy, leading to currency depreciation and the potential for hyperinflation.

When the purchasing power of fiat money decreases, gold holds its value. In other words, while value of money decreases, the price of gold will increase."

On 27 May 2020, BullionStar's COO Mr. Luke Chua spoke with CNA938 on the topic of gold amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Topics covered in the interview were the current demand for precious metals in the current climate, important questions investors should ask if they want to invest in gold, the possibility of governments banning private gold ownership if they lose control of inflation, and the difference between paper gold, digital gold and physical gold.

Listen to the interview here

Bloomberg, one of the world’s leading financial markets, news and information networks, today quotes BullionStar in an article highlighting the huge levels of physical gold demand which bullion dealers around the world are seeing right now in an environment of constrained bullion supply chains.

In the article titled “Gold Coins Have Never Sold at Premium This High for So Long”, published Wednesday 25 March, Blomberg notes that:

“Sales of retail gold coins are revealing just how desperate investors are to find a safe haven”, but on the supply side that “the coronavirus pandemic that’s roiled markets isn’t just stoking demand for the haven. It’s also paralyzing supply. Around the world, flights are getting canceled, trucks are getting held up and metal refiners are shutting”.

Quoting Ronan Manly, BullionStar’s precious metals analyst, Bloomberg writes that:

 '“Some wholesalers are currently not taking orders,” said Ronan Manly, an analyst at Singapore dealer BullionStar. “Wholesalers, mints and refiners are either low on stock or out of stock.” '  

The full article, written by Bloomberg reporters Elena Mazneza and Justina Vasquez, can be read on the main Bloomberg website here and on Bloomberg Quint here.

The Financial Times (FT), the world’s leading financial daily newspaper, today quotes BullionStar in an article about supply constraints of precious metals bars and coins in an environment of elevated physical bullion demand.

Written by the FT’s London-based reporter Henry Sanderson and headlined “Gold bars in short supply due to coronavirus disruption”, the article describes how “traders have reported a growing global shortage of gold bars, as the coronavirus outbreak both disrupts supply and stokes demand.”

Quoting BullionStar’s precious metals analyst, Ronan Manly, the FT article, published 23 March, features BullionStar as follows:

“BullionStar, a Singapore-based precious metals retailer, said it was paying a premium to buy back silver and gold coins from customers in an effort to replenish supplies, according to Ronan Manly, one of its analysts. ‘There’s a disconnect between prices in the physical gold market and the prices you see on your screen,’ he said.” 

Sanderson’s article also draws attention to the fact that on the same day as its publication, 23 March, the three giant Swiss gold refineries of PAMP, Argor-Heraeus and Valcambi which are based in the Swiss Canton of Ticino, have all announced that due to the coronavirus outbreak, they are temporarily shutting down refinery production on the instruction of local authorities in Ticino.

The full FT article “Gold bars in short supply due to coronavirus disruption” can be read here (depending on FT free article read limits and subscription settings).

As demand for physical precious metals bars and coins continues to surge across Singapore and the world, today Reuters, the global financial news agency, quoted BullionStar precious metals analyst, Ronan Manly, in its Friday weekly wrap-up Asia gold market commentary:

“The overall volatility has led to a huge surge in demand for physical precious metals ... it has been the unfolding global financial crisis and the rush to safe haven tangible precious metals in light of this crisis,” said Ronan Manly, precious metals analyst at BullionStar Singapore.

However, despite BullionStar explaining in depth to Reuters that the huge surge in demand and associated scarcity in supply has led to a disconnect between the prices of physical precious metals and the prices of ‘paper’ as traded on COMEX/LBMA, Reuters still managed to confuse the issue in the introduction to its article where it stated that:   

“Physical demand for gold jumped this week in Singapore as buyers took advantage of a recent slide in prices after investors dumped the metal to raise cash, while discounts in India narrowed despite closures due to the coronavirus outbreak.”

This phraseology by Reuters is completely wrong. Physical demand for gold did not jump due to buyers taking advantage of a slide in prices. There has been no recent slide in physical prices. The prices for physical gold and silver have actually surged as we explained to Reuters.

Investors have not 'dumped metal'. In fact, investors have been buying 10 times more gold and silver than normal. That is why there is a supply squeeze across mints, refineries, bullion wholesalers and bullion retailers. Prices have fallen on the COMEX and LBMA because those markets traded unbacked synthetic ‘paper’ which is totally unconnected to the physical gold and silver markets. That is why there has been a price disconnect between the PRICE OF PHYSICAL, and the flawed PRICE OF PAPER ON COMEX/LBMA.

The Reuters article is titled “Asia Gold-Singapore demand surges, India discounts narrow sharply on price fall”, and can be read on the Reuters website here, and also on such websites as Yahoo Finance here, and Canada’s Financial Post here.

ValueWalk, the well-known US news site read by the banking, hedge fund and asset management communities and by Fortune 500 executives, this week published a feature piece on the ongoing disconnect between the prices in the paper gold and physical gold markets.

Published 17 March and titled ‘Paper gold may weaken as physical gold price rallies’, the ValueWalk piece cites BullionStar news about the disconnect, noting that:

“There are signs that the paper gold market is separating from the physical gold market as prices rally. Gold seller BullionStar claims there is a significant shortage in physical gold. In fact, the seller claims its order volume and call volume are up exponentially or about ten times as high as usual.”

The full ValueWalk article can be read here.

Amid the continued market volatility and intensifying global financial crisis, leading financial news agency Bloomberg, this week published a focus piece on BullionStar’s experience of unprecedented strength of physical gold demand.   

Published on the popular Bloomberg terminal used by traders and investment professionals the world over, the article, published on 16^th March is titled “Singapore Bullion Dealer Says ‘Difficult’ to Find Gold Supply”, and is appended in full below:

“BullionStar has seen record number of orders, order revenue and number of visits to its center over the past month, according to a blog post over the weekend by founder and CEO Torgny Persson on the company’s website.

“The enormous increase in demand is straining our supply chains,” Persson said. “We have managed to replenish a bit of gold on Saturday but it’s very difficult to find any supply anywhere.”

BullionStar says most of its suppliers -- which include major refineries, mints and wholesalers globally -- don’t have any stock of precious metals and aren’t taking orders currently.

The supply squeeze and shortages are getting worse and it can’t replenish most products as they sell out, BullionStar said Monday. BullionStar is also increasing customer buy premiums while raising the sell back prices to balance things out.”

Bloomberg, the global financial news and information provider, has quoted BullionStar CEO, Torgny Persson, in a 14th March feature on the strength of physical gold demand amid the global market turmoil.

The Bloomberg article, titled ‘Mom and Pop Investors Hold Faith in Gold’s Haven Magic’, has been published on Bloomberg Professional terminal, the de facto global market portal used by all major investment and market firms (global subscription base 325,000 terminals).

In the midst of the market rout, says Bloomberg, gold’s safe haven characteristics have remained strong among individual investors and savers, “ as dealers around the world - from Singapore to Russia and the U.K. - said they’ve seen a spike in buying from retail buyers”.        

Quoting Mr. Persson, Bloomberg noted that:

“Singapore dealer BullionStar saw customer orders for bullion more than doubling in the past month compared with last year.

‘Demand for physical gold and silver bullion is absolutely breathtaking and overwhelming,’ said BullionStar Chief Executive Officer Torgny Persson.”

The Bloomberg article, which also noted the recent strength of physical gold demand seen by the Royal Mint, Perth Mint and Germany’s Heraeus, was written by Ranjeetha Pakiam out of the Bloomberg Singapore office and Bloomberg colleagues from London and Mumbai.

With panic mode in global financial markets amid plunging stock markets, record low bond yields and a soaring but volatile price, Singapore's leading gold dealer BullionStar has witnessed unprecedented physical gold demand.

Commenting to global news provider Reuters today for its Asian gold and commodity weekly wrap-up, Ronan Manly, precious metals analyst at BullionStar Singapore highlighted these trends, pointing out that "physical gold demand continues to be very strong this week in Singapore in a super-hot market and a surging gold price. In fact, we have seen unprecedented gold demand and some products were out of stock.

Manly explained to Reuters that "the panic and uncertainty in the wider markets caused by the continual plunge in stock markets, emergency interest rate cuts, and record low bond yields is driving a flight to safety to gold. Since physical gold has no counterparty risk and is highly liquid, savers and investors are seeking out the refuge of physical gold, as would be expected. That the gold price is at all-time highs across many major currencies also helps, as this puts gold on more peoples’ radars.”

In response to Reuters' question on how price strength may be affecting physical demand, Manly told Reuters that "the gold price strength has been impressive this week with a nearly $100 rally up to the $1675 range, mainly from gold price surges on Tuesday (emergency fed rate cut) and Thursday (continued market turmoil). While some customers have been selling physical gold and taking some profits, the overall picture we are seeing is unprecedented gold demand, so higher prices are actually boosting demand.”

On the question of the impact of coronavirus on both physical gold demand and on the gold price, BullionStar's precious metals analyst explained to Reuters that “while savers and investors are buying physical gold as a safe haven refuge to the coronavirus triggered volatility and uncertainty in the wider financial markets, they are also, and have been, buying gold as financial insurance against the recklessness of continued and upcoming central bank currency debasement, i.e. quantitative easing, interest rate cuts, negative real rates, zero interest rate policies. So the coronavirus pandemic is a trigger, and physical gold demand is reflecting this for sure.

But likewise, COMEX gold futures trading, which you have to understand tis where the gold price is predominantly determined, this pricing is also signaling the uncertainty triggered by COVID-19, with the US dollar gold price up strongly this week near a 7 year high. That too ripples into physical demand through the price action.”

Reuters, the global markets and financial news agency, this week asked for BullionStar's input and opinions about developments in the physical gold market in Singapore and the wider world. Commenting for Reuters Friday gold and commodities wrap in a week that was also month-end February, See Hong Kang, Customer Service Manager at BullionStar Singapore noted that "physical gold demand remained strong in our bullion center throughout the week, with many customers expressing concern about the impact of the coronavirus on global financial markets, and some buying precious metals as protection against falling stock markets."

With the US dollar gold price trading around the $1650 level, Reuters wondered was the market in Singapore seeing more buying or selling of physical gold. See Hong Kang replied that "while there have been those selling gold and taking profits, this is to be expected given the higher prices, however the buy side has also been robust, with multiple large sized orders placed by our customers who expect the situation to worsen."

BullionStar's customer service manager noted that "we are definitely seeing a higher volume of transactions compared to this time last year. With higher gold prices, we are always going to draw in more investors looking to both buy and sell, but also those who are simply curious due to the gold price now being on a wider radar."

On the short-term outlook for physical gold demand at the current price level, Ronan Manly, precious metals analyst at BullionStar explained to Reuters that "physical gold is a proven safe-haven in times of economic crisis and financial market panic and a form of financial insurance against monetary crises, geopolitical risks, and systemic financial system risks. This is because gold has no counterparty risk or default risk and it is highly liquid.

The current turmoil in markets across the globe should therefore benefit physical demand for gold coins and gold bars over the short-term, since, as the counterparty and default risk of most other assets shoots up, investors seek the established safe-haven of gold".

In a topical week for physical gold demand in Asia that spanned Chinese New Year and saw the spread of the coronavirus in mainland China, BullionStar provided commentary for the Friday wrap-up and January month-end gold and commodity reports of Reuters, the global financial news agency.

Commenting on the relative strength of gold demand in Singapore for the week ending 31 January,  See Hong Kang, Customer Service Manager at BullionStar Singapore noted that BullionStar saw “very strong demand for precious metals coming back from the Chinese New Year holiday period.”

“We also saw strong demand for precious metals in the weeks running up to Lunar New Year", said Hong Kang, "with customers indicating that they intended to gift bars and coins as Chinese New Year red packets, instead of the traditional cash gift. So those buyers were there before New Year, and certainly contributed to boosting gold demand.”

On whether the outbreak of the coronavirus is having any impact on physical gold buying or market sentiment, BullionStar's Hong Kang commented that "yes, investors are concerned enough about the potential deadliness of the Wuhan Coronavirus to be buying into precious metals. The World Health Organization’s declaration of the Wuhan Coronavirus as a global health emergency is likely to hit economies as regards travel, trade and business, and we have had customers telling us that they are purchasing precious metals on the back of these fears. 

BullionStar's customer service manager concluded that "in the near term, the focus is likely to be primarily on how this Coronavirus develops", preceptively pointing out that "a long drawn out health crisis could be detrimental to trade and business globally and we might see a sustained drop in stock markets. If that is the case, it will be positive for precious metals prices.”

The Financial Times (FT) has quoted BullionStar’s precious metals analyst, Ronan Manly in its Friday 20 September, in an article titled “LBMA ‘in discussions’ with JP Morgan after board member indictment”.

The FT article discusses how a JP Morgan executive, Michael Nowak, who is at the center of a Department of Justice investigation into precious metals market manipulation, was still a current Board member on the London Bullion Market Assocation’s (LBMA) Board.

The FT quote is as follows:

“People are shocked that an LBMA board member is at the centre of the DoJs case, and in disbelief that Nowak is still, according to the LBMA website, listed as a LBMA board member,” Ronan Manly, a precious metals analyst at BullionStar in Singapore, said.

 “The LBMA board sits above the entire LBMA governance structure, so even though the DoJ case is allegation at this stage, it taints the LBMA.”

Literally a few hours after the Financial Times published this article, the LBMA announced that it had removed Michael Nowak from its Board, saying that “in light of the ongoing investigation by the Department of Justice, the LBMA, under the terms of its Articles of Association, has removed Mr Nowak from its board.”

The FT then updated its online version of the article, changing the title to “LBMA removes JP Morgan board member after indictment.” For those with an FT subscription, the updated article can be accessed here. Screenshots from the original article, as well as background explaining this fast moving series of events can be accessed in the BullionStar article "LBMA Removes JP Morgan’s Michael Nowak from the LBMA Board".

This week, the Financial Times quoted BullionStar CEO Torgny Persson in an article about the noticeable trend of investors moving their gold holdings out of Hong Kong to other offshore storage jurisdictions such as Singapore.

According to the FT, the shift in bullion storage away from Hong Kong is due both to the continuing political crisis and civil unrest in Hong Kong as well the growing market share of the private wealth management sector in Singapore at Hong Kong’s expense.

The FT, one of the world’s best known financial markets newspapers, quotes BullionStar’s CEO as follows:

‘“Torgny Persson, chief executive of BullionStar, a Singapore-based gold dealer, said that “many” concerned investors had approached him about shifting holdings from Hong Kong. “Singapore now…stands out as the premier location in Asia, if not the world, in terms of safety and rule of law for investors and savers looking for a stable jurisdiction for bullion wealth preservation", he said.’

The FT's article, published 17 September, 2019, is titled “Investors pull gold from Hong Kong as tensions rise” and can be read in full here and also for those with an FT subscription on the FT web site here.

Mark Leibovit’s VR Metals/Resource Letter, a well-known US newsletter for investors, portfolio managers and traders, quotes BullionStar precious metals analyst, Ronan Manly, in its July 22 issue.

Leibovit, who is a well-known trader and commentator on financial markets, references BullionStar’s article about precious metals manipulation near the top of its latest issue, and writes:

“Gold and silver market manipulation by governments, central banks, and bullion banks is so well documented now as to be beyond obvious, Bullion Star researcher Ronan Manly writes tonight. But the bigger manipulation, Manly concludes, is the very structure of the monetary metals markets themselves.”

The Leibovit VR Metals/Resource Letter (subscription only) can be accessed here.

The precious metals manipulation article on the BullionStar website, titled “Gold & Silver Price Manipulation - The Greatest Trick ever Pulled”, can be read here.

In what was a strong week for both gold and silver prices, Reuters, the global news agency today quotes BullionStar customer service manager See Hong Kang in its Friday wrap-up precious metals market commentary:

“There is still a good level of demand for silver at the moment with some investors speculating that the gold/silver ratio could fall further, and that a silver trade could potentially allow them to secure more gold in the future,” said See Hong Kang, customer service manager at BullionStar Singapore.”

The Reuters article is titled “Gold slips from 6-year top on profit-taking, still up for the week”, and can be read on the Reuters website here.

The RT.com financial news website, part of television network RT, this week published an article about Poland’s recent massive purchase of 100 tonnes of gold in London and the central bank’s plan to repatriate half of its gold reserves back to Poland. This follows similar gold purchase and repatriation moves by the central bank of Hungary late last year.

In its commentary, the RT.com article references analysis of the Polish move by BullionStar’s precious metals analyst Ronan Manly, with the following quote:  

“'Whatever the exact motives, both Hungary’s and now Poland’s gold purchases and repatriations are sending clear signals to the EU elites that, in the realms of both politics and monetary policy, the two countries still have an independent streak and sense of national sovereignty found lacking in many other EU member nations,' wrote Ronan Manly, a precious metals analyst with BullionStar in Singapore."

The RT.com article titled “Still trust London with your gold? Poland latest to repatriate its bullion from the Bank of England”, can be read in full here. The RT.com quote is taken from the BullionStar article ‘Poland joins Hungary with Huge Gold Purchase and Repatriation” which can be read here.

In 14 June coverage by Reuters Commodities News of physical gold demand in Asia’s leading bullion markets, the global financial news agency quotes BullionStar’s Customer Service Manager, See Hong Kang, on gold demand levels out of Singapore:

‘“As a safe haven metal, physical gold demand is continuing to be supported by unresolved global uncertainties such as the U.S. trade disputes and the protests in Hong Kong,” See Hong Kang, Customer Service Manager at BullionStar Singapore said.’

The Reuters article is titled “India discounts at 5-month high; buying picks up in China, Singapore”, and can be read in full on the Reuters website here and also on Yahoo Finance here.

Global financial news agency Reuters has quoted BullionStar in its weekly news coverage of precious metals and the US dollar gold price. In a news piece dated 14 June 2019 covering gold price movements, Reuters quotes BullionStar precious metals analyst Ronan manly discussing the recent strength of the US dollar gold price.  

“The price action of gold is attracting new investors and a fresh multi-year high is a possibility, said Ronan Manly, a precious metals analyst at BullionStar Singapore. ‘This would bring momentum to the gold price and would spur further western gold demand, but could bring in more selling from the East.’”

The Reuters article is titled “Gold hits 14-month high on growth woes, Middle East tensions” and can be read in full on Reuters website here. and on Yahoo Finance here.

Torgny Persson, CEO of BullionStar, was recently interviewed in DotCom Magazine. Torgny ?talked about leadership, entrepreneurship and shared some of the keys to BullionStar's success. Torgny also discussed BullionStar's passion for precious metals and the company's commitment to its customers. The interview furthermore touched on how to stay abreast of things in fast changing business environments and how entrepreneurs can achieve success.  Read the full interview here. 

BullionStar was quoted in two Reuters Markets News articles on Friday 22 February about the gold price and gold's price action.
The first Reuters dispatch, titled "Gold prices rise on subdued dollar; Fed stance limits gains" quoted BullionStar's precious metals analyst Ronan Manly, commenting on the fundamentals and technicals of the US dollar denominated spot gold price:

“The dollar’s trajectory and soundings from the Fed will obviously play on gold prices, but the metal’s focus is now more on key levels than key events,” said Ronan Manly, a precious metals analyst at BullionStar Singapore.

“The main target is still the technically important area between $1,350 and $1,360 above which would be a one year high.”

This Reuters article appeared in the precious metals pages of Reuters global site here, as well as on financial news site CNBC here, the Nasdaq market site here, and on India's Business Standard site here.

The second Reuters article, published on the same day and titled "Gold heads for second weekly gain on growth concerns", reiterated BullionStar's Manly commenting on the important one year price high for USD gold at the 1350-60 range:

“The main target (for gold) is still the technically important area between $1,350 and $1,360 above which would be a one-year high,” said Ronan Manly, a precious metals analyst at BullionStar Singapore.

This article appeared on the Reuters global site here, and also on CNBC and Nasdaq in the US, This is Money in the UK here, South Africa's national daily newspaper Business Day here, and Investing.com in Australia here.

The quotes used by Reuters were from a longer set of comments about gold's price action during the week 18-22 February, and can be read below: 

"While there have been some fundamentals such as a relatively weaker dollar and the Fed's changing stance on interest rates that have encouraged this bull move in gold, gold's 10 month peak is being driven by classic momentum and a willingness of the market to test resistance levels. Spot gold has covered a lot of ground this week, firmly taking out resistance at 1325, 1330 and 1340. This was primarily due to bullish momentum and a willingness of the market to test these resistance levels.

The dollar's trajectory and soundings from the Fed will obviously play on the gold price as they did yesterday, but gold's focus is now more on key levels than key events. You can talk about overbought and relative strength, but gold has a stronger feel now than it has had for a long time, and its aiming to resolve these important technical levels near 1 and 5 year highs. Which all suggests the bullish momentum will continue. 

So its all in momentum and a willingness to test the highs. Specifically, the main target is still the technically important area between 1350 and 1360, and then above 1360 which would be a one year high, so investors are watching out for this. Twenty dollars or so above 1360 level would put gold at a 5-year high and would bring in a lot of attention from the sidelines. New 1 and and 5 year highs could all happen fairly quickly, so near term gold price action will be intriguing to watch."

International news and television network, RT.com, has published an in-depth article focusing on the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) gold reserves and their supposed storage location at the Bank of England's gold vaults in London.

The RT article which appears on RT's English language new website at www.rt.com and is based on in-depth commentary which BullionStar precious metals analyst Ronan Manly provided to RT, questions the lack of publicly available proof that 80 tonnes of Australia's gold is held in London.

RT's analysis extensively quotes the BullionStar analyst extensively on such topics as the lack of a full and public audit of the Australian gold, the fact that the RBA has been engaging in gold lending in London for years, the fact that there is no proper weight list in the public domain of Australia's gold bars (with serial numbers), that that there is no valid reason for the Australian gold to be stored in London.

'"There have never been any independent physical audits of this gold, which means that there is no way to verify the RBA's claim that it has all the gold it claims to have,” Manly told RT.'

"The RBA could easily store the gold in Canberra, Sydney or Perth like the Bank of Russia's gold is held in Moscow and St Petersburg" says Manly.  

RT's article also explains why the Bank of England will "never provide central bank customers with proper weight lists of refiner serial numbers". This is because "the Bank of England wants total secrecy about gold lending and where the lent gold goes to".

The RT.com article, which was published on 18 February 2018, is titled "Hey UK! It's not just Venezuela, what happened to Australia's gold?", and can be read in full here.

A number of recent BullionStar articles have enjoyed high-profile coverage on the front page of the world's leading alternative financial and markets website ZeroHedge.com, garnering an aggregated readership of more than 260,000 readers.

These articles cover macro and geo-political developments in the world of central bank and sovereign gold and such topics of gold storage and gold confiscation, and gold ownership and gold accumulation among some of the world's leading central banks (e.g. Bank of England, Banque de France) and nations (e.g. Russia, China, Venezuela, Italy).

The articles, which number seven in total, were all originally published on the BullionStar website, and then picked up by ZeroHedge for its front page coverage. The articles as they appear on ZeroHedge and their dates are listed below:

Bank of England's refusal to return Venezuela's gold sets a worrying precedent,16th November here. 

French central bank and JP Morgan team up to juice Gold Lending, 11th December here. 

Venezuela’s Gold In Limbo Amid Tug-Of-War At The Bank Of England, 19th December here. 

Russian Central Bank Buying Gold On The International Market?, 26th December here. 

Separating Truth From Fiction In China’s Golden Game Of Poker, 17th January here. 

Store Your Gold At The Bank Of England And You Might Never See It Again, 2nd February here. 

Italy’s Gold Enters The Political Fray. But Who Really Owns It?, 13th February here. 

This week the Spanish language edition of the global RT.com network quoted BullionStar's precious metals analyst Ronan Manly in an article covering the recent renewed gold purchases by the People's Bank of China, the Chinese central bank.

After a two year hiatus on gold purchase announcements, the Chinese central bank recently began announcing that it had returned to buying gold in December last year and continued this buying into January. The quote on RT's https://actualidad.rt.com site in Spanish is as follows:

"Ronan Manly, especialista en metales preciosos de la compañía singapurense Bullion Star, afirmó que el aumento de la parte de oro en las reservas de China y Rusia podría no solo disminuir su dependencia de la divisa norteamericana, sino también hacer que abandonaran el dólar como moneda de cambio internacional."

This quote, translated into English, is as follows:

"Ronan Manly, a specialist in precious metals at the Singaporean company Bullion Star, said that the increase in the share of gold in the reserves of China and Russia could not only decrease their dependence on the US currency, but also cause them to abandon the dollar as an international currency."

The full RT article is in Spanish titled "China ncrementa sus Reservas de Oro Dos Meses Seguidos" or in English "China increases its Gold Reserves Two Months in a Row", and can be read in full here.

In it's end of week precious metals commentary wrapping up gold price movements and direction for Friday 8th February, the global markets news agency Reuters quoted BullionStar's precious metals analyst Ronan Manly about the key support level for the US dollar gold price and its underpinning safe haven demand. The Reuters quote was as follows:

"Macro concerns in the global economy continue to underpin gold’s safe haven status, and the buying interest just happens to be accumulating around the $1,300 level,” said Ronan Manly, precious metals analyst at Singapore-based dealer BullionStar."

The Reuters article, titled "Gold holds firm on trade, growth worries" can be read on the Reuters web site here, and was also syndicated and distriibuted across multiple high-profile financial news sites including Yahoo Finance here, Nasdaq here, India's Business Standard here, and Investing.com here.

This week in the Asian gold market saw active two-way trading as the higher gold price spurred some gold holders to take profits, while the upcoming Lunar New Year saw higher gold demand on the back of buying for precious metals holiday gift giving.

As one of the top Asia-based gold dealers, BullionStar is in an ideal position to see trends in this market and is regularly consulted by the financial media. This week, the Reuters Commodities News review quotes BullionStar Customer Service Manager, See Hong Kang, as follows:

'“There was a huge influx of sell orders this week due to the higher prices with many looking to cash in profits accumulated on their metal holdings,” said See Hong Kang, Customer Service Manager at BullionStar Singapore.' 

BullionStar also saw strong buy activity for gold this week due to safe haven demand and in the run up to the Chinese New Year celebrations, and although Reuters did not quote this in it's article, Hong Kang's additional quotes were as follows:

"Interestingly though, other customers worried about the worsening macro situation, such as the Fed interest rate pause and Brexit concerns, were buying in larger quantities based on safe haven demand. We also saw increased demand for precious metals as gifts for the upcoming Chinese New Year." 

The Reuters article Commodities News article, which is titled "Asia Gold-Chinese demand jumps; Indian buyers hold off with eye on budget", was published on Friday 01 February, and can be read in full here.

The US dollar gold price moved significantly higher this week, moving convincingly up through the $1300 level and briefly trading at over $1325 per troy ounce. This move caused a lot of interest in the financial media, with the market focusing on what will happen next with the gold price.

Reuters, the financial news agency, covered gold's latest move in its end of week 'Gold Market Report', where it called on BullionStar to add insight on how the technical picture of the latest gold price move might pan out. Reuters Gold Market Report quoted BullionStar as follows:

“From a technical perspective, support for gold is now at $1,310 and more strongly at the $1,300 level,” said Ronan Manly, precious metals analyst with BullionStar, adding that the metal was facing resistance at $1,325 per ounce.

The full Reuters article, published 01 February, and titled "Gold falls on U.S.-China trade optimism but set for second weekly gain", can be read on the Reuters website here, and also on the CNBC website here. CNBC is one of the world's leading business and financial news networks. 

Over the weekend of 14-17 December, BullionStar was quoted in a number of the world's leading financial media channels about movements in the gold price and the impact of the US dollar on the international gold price. In an article about precious metals and foreign exchange markets published on US based CNBC.com, one of the world’s largest financial new networks, BullionStar’s precious metals analyst Ronan Manly was quoted as follows:

“'While gold extended its trading range to the $1,250 level (earlier this week), it has come off that level, and with the Fed rate hike next week, any gold price rise will be hampered by expected dollar strength,' said Ronan Manly, a precious metals analyst at Singapore-based dealer BullionStar."

The full CNBC article can be read here. Variations of the same article also appeared on global financial news portal Investing.com (link), international news bureau Reuters based in London (link), and Australia’s leading news network and internet portal Nine.com.au (link).

As one of the world's premier bullion dealers, BullionStar is well known across Asia and internationally and continues to extend its brand recognition globally.    

In an article discussing current developments with Venezuela’s gold reserves published by the Univision News site, December 03, 2018, BullionStar analyst Ronan Manly is quoted on the reasons behind the Bank of England’s delay in actioning Venezuela’s gold repatriation request from London.

Univision quotes Manly as follows:‘“The more logical and likely explanation is that the US, through the White House, US Treasury and State Department have been liaising with the British Foreign office, HM Treasury to put pressure on the Bank of England to delay and push back on Venezuela’s gold withdrawal request," according to Ronan Manly, a precious metals analyst with BullionStar, a Singapore-based gold dealer.’

The full Univision News article, which is titled “Don’t let Maduro ‘steal’ gold, opposition asks British bank” can be read in English at the following link.The Spanish language version of the article can be read here.   

Univision is the leading Spanish language television network across the United States encompassing a number of television channels and the Univision News website. Univision is also among the top five broadcast networks in the US alongside ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC.

In an article today discussing the global FX and precious metals markets and the G20 global trade meeting, financial and markets news agency Reuters quotes BullionStar's precious metals analyst Ronan Manly as follows on the market wide factors impacting the gold price:

'"The markets now have more clarity into issues such as the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rate thinking, the Italian budgetary drama, and the U.S.-China trade war,” said Ronan Manly, a precious metals analyst at Singapore-based dealer BullionStar. "As such, this clarity and visibility could cap any further gains for gold in the short term. So, a major move above the current range is not likely.”' 

Another part of Manly's quote which was not included by Reuters but which is important to provide context, dealt with the way in which the current US dollar denominated spot gold price is actually discovered. The extended quote is as follows:

"Bullion demand globally is still strong, driven by the East, but with the US dollar spot gold price established by trading in the London OTC gold market and on COMEX, two synthetic markets which have little to do with the physical gold market, the US dollar spot price as it stands will not reflect this physical demand."

The Reuters article is titled "Gold dips as dollar firms, palladium breaches $1,200/oz" and can be read here.  
 

In an article published November 9th covering gold demand in the Asian region, Reuters quoted BullionStar precious metals analyst Ronan Manly about the position of physical gold demand in Singapore.

“Demand was strong this week in Singapore. Early in the week, there was noticeable buying activity for the Diwali festival,” said Ronan Manly, precious metals analyst at Singapore-based dealer BullionStar.

The full Reuters article titled "Asia Gold-Key festivals light up Indian demand" and published in the Commodities News section of the Reuters website can be read here. 

This week Reuters quoted BullionStar's views about the gold and financial markets in two separate articles published Friday 19 October by the global news agency.  

The first article, Reuters' weekly gold report, titled "Gold heads for 3rd straight weekly gain", quotes BullionStar precious metals analyst Ronan Manly on the market wide safe havens drivers that have been supporting gold's recent price rally. Manly said that "the geo-political and market-wide factors that were driving safe haven demand for gold such as Fed interest rate hike concerns, the Italian budgetary drama, the global oil price(rally) and the U.S.-China trade war, are still with us".

The article can be read in full on the Reuters website here and also on the Economic Times of India website here.  

In a second article published earlier the same day titled "Gold edges higher as stocks slide', which had a focus on Asian markets and the slide in Chinese stocks, Reuters picked up on a similar theme noting that "Asian shares fell on renewed political and economic concerns including China's weak growth, with the metal on track for a third straight weekly gain." This article quoted BullionStar's Manly, who said that "with Chinese equity markets continuing to drift lower, and lingering geopolitical risks such as Fed interest rate hikes, Italian budget concerns and the U.S.-China trade war, stock markets are still shaky and in no way have stabilised."

That article can be read on the CNBC website here and also on the NASDAQ website here. The same quote also appeared in a different article on the Investing.com website here.

In an article published 12th October about gold demand in Asia, Reuters notes that a component of physical gold demand this week in Singapore was driven by safe-haven buying. As Reuters commented "In Singapore, there was limited safe-haven buying, said Ronan Manly, precious metals analyst at Singapore-based dealer BullionStar."

The context of the quote is as follows. BullionStar saw substantial physical gold demand this week in Singapore. This included a noticeable spike in customer gold buying in the wake of the global market selloff that began Wednesday during US trading hours and continued into Thursday and Friday. That spike in gold demand was in part safe-haven related, and also partly driven by customers who anticipated that the gold price would rise given the wider market turmoil. The full article can be read here. 

Reuters quoted Bullionstar's precious metals analyst Ronan Manly in two of its articles on Friday 6th October.

The first article, in Reuters 'Market News', titled "Precious-Gold little changed; U.S. non-farm payroll data awaited" focused on that day's upcoming US non-farm payrolls release and how it related to the gold price. Manly told Reuters:

“Another U.S. benchmark interest rate expected before the end of this year is underpinning current U.S. dollar strength, which in turn is keeping the U.S. dollar gold price subdued,” said Ronan Manly, precious metals analyst at Singapore-based dealer BullionStar.

The second Reuters article, which is a weekly piece published in the 'Commodities News' section of the Reuters website, was titled "Asia Gold-India discounts widen; Bangladesh launches trade policy", and featured BullionStar's feedback about physical gold demand in Singapore during the preceding week. As Reuters highlighted: 

“Somewhat surprisingly, the upward move in the U.S. dollar gold prices this week triggered some of our larger customers in Singapore to make purchases,” said Ronan Manly, precious metals analyst at Singapore-based dealer BullionStar. "This may signal a confidence by those customers that this week’s price recovery has legs and offers a good entry point at current levels."

As Singapore's premier bullion dealer, BullionStar is happy to share its views with Reuters, one of the world's leading financial markets and news agencies.

The Wall Street Journal, in an article published 20 September, quotes Torgny Persson, CEO of BullionStar. The article, titled, "Precious-Metals Buyers Go Online", discusses how tech-savvy precious-metal investors in the South East Asian region are going online for their bullion purchases.

“You no longer need to go to physical shops to buy,” says Torgny Persson, chief executive officer of Singapore-based gold dealer BullionStar. “You can control everything remotely. It is also safer. Everything can be handled online.”

BullionStar, which started its online platform in 2012, says it has seen annual sales rise to 174.7 million Singapore dollars (US$127 million) in 2017 from 44.1 million Singapore dollars in 2014. The company in May 2017 added a mobile platform that customers have rapidly adopted as well. Its most recent data, through August, show mobile purchases account for about one-third of its orders this year, says Mr. Persson.

“In the modern age, people like to have accessibility,” says Mr. Persson. “We are trying to bridge the gap through technology.”

The full article can be read on the Wall Street Journal's website here.

A Reuters article today on physical gold demand in Asia quotes BullionStar's precious metals analyst Ronan Manly about bullion sales trends this week in Singapore.  

"When gold traded below $1,200 per ounce earlier this week, we saw a large volume of bullion sales... Interestingly, as spot prices rose, we saw an increased number of customers coming into our store to sell to us," Manly told Reuters. "Any dip below the $1,200 level could bring out value conscious buyers who have demonstrated a resilience to buy at these levels.”

This week BullionStar saw a large volume of bullion sales, with customers mainly buying high value 100 gram cast gold bars, brands such as Argor-Heraeus and PAMP Suisse. Gold bullion Maple Leaf coins were also in demand from customers who viewed the US$ 1200 level as a support level and an attractive entry point.

The Reuters article, which can be read at the following link, is titled "Asia Gold-India discount widest in three months; China activity nudges up".

News website, RT.com, owned by Russian media network RT, has published an article focusing on the best ways to invest in gold.

The article extensively quotes BullionStar precious metals analyst Ronan Manly, and stresses the importance of investing in physical gold for wealth preservation as opposed to gold substitutes such as gold-backed ETFs. It also covers gold's role as a safe haven, store of value, and portfolio diversifier.

The RT.com article is titled "If you want to preserve your wealth, buy physical gold – precious metals expert to RT", and can be read here.

The RT.com financial news website of Russian television network RT has published a comprehensive article about central bank manipulation of the gold price. This article was written by BullionStar precious metals analyst Ronan Manly, and is featured in its entirety within the RT.com article.

Many mainstream financial news outlets refuse to cover this important topic, so its notable that RT.com has devoted considerable resources to making sure that the topic of central bank gold price suppression gets attention in the world's media.

The RT.com article can be read here.

BullionStar has been voted Bullion Dealer of the Year 'Rest of World' category in Bullion Directory's 2018 awards. This is a significant accomplishment as this category covers bullion dealers across the world spanning 12 countries.

The full results can be seen on Bullion Directory's awards announcement page here. 

Russian television network RT recently published an article about the US Government’s gold reserves on its website RT.com. This article has extensive input and quotations from BullionStar precious metals analyst Ronan Manly. The full article can be read here.

BullionStar's Precious Metals Analyst, Mr. Ronan Manly, was interviewed by Jay Taylor on VoiceAmerica, and discussed the fractionally backed gold markets and the comparison between implied gold price and money supply.

Listen to the full interview here.

The Wall Street Journal has published an article titled "The Fed Has 6,200 Tons of Gold in a Manhattan Basement - Or Does It?"

BullionStar's Precious Metals Analyst, Ronan Manly, was prominently quoted in the article stating that "no one at all can be sure the gold is really there except Fed employees with access" and "If it is all there, the central bank has never in its history provided any proof." 

Real Vision TV is the world's only video-on-demand channel for finance that features exclusive in-depth interviews and presentations from the world's best fund managers, independent analysts, geopolitical strategists and economists.

BullionStar's Precious Metals Analyst, Ronan Manly, was featured on RealVisionTV in July 2017, speaking on Bullion Banks, Gold ETFs and Physical Gold. Watch this exclusive presentation here.

HKEx launches gold futures
By Citywire Asia Staff 10 Jul, 2017 at 11:06

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange has launched gold futures contracts traded in yuan and US dollars, as it tries to capture demand for precious metals amongst Asian investors.

Although it sits on the edge of the world’s largest gold market, Hong Kong is light years behind London and New York as a centre for trading in the spot metal or its derivatives.

Monday’s launch is the third time that the exchange has attempted to break into gold futures. HKEx’s last product was launched into the teeth of the financial crisis in October 2008, and was withdrawn in March 2015. A contract offered in the 1980s and 90s dwindled due to lack of interest.

‘Currently the price of gold is set through the OTC market in London and futures trading in New York, both of which are many time zones away from the largest consumer of gold in the world: China. Asia is severely under-represented when it comes to influencing gold pricing,’ HKEx CEO Charles Li wrote in a blog on the exchange’s website.

Hong Kong’s physical gold trading market, time zone and proximity to Mainland China mean that the city is well-placed to become a gold trading hub, Li wrote.

The London Metal Exchange, which HKEx bought in 2012, also launched a new gold contract on Monday, its first in more than 30 years.

HKEx’s new contract differs from its previous attempts, in that it now offers yuan settlement and is physically-backed.

Although there is some logic to the idea that the gold market needs local pricing benchmarks that are more reflective of regional market dynamics. Demand for gold has shifted eastwards in line with growing wealth in India and China.

The CME launched gold futures in Hong Kong in January 2015, but volume has been uninspiring, while contracts in Singapore and Shanghai have also struggled.

With that experience in mind, Hong Kong faces an uphill struggle, according to Ronan Manly, precious metals analyst at Singapore-based bullion dealer BullionStar.

‘I do think it will have a hard time succeeding,’ Manly said. Gold contracts in the region typically follow a familiar path: ‘They have a lot of marketing, a big launch, and then nobody ends up using them,’ he said.

http://citywireasia.com/news/hkex-launches-gold-futures/a1032080?ref=international-asia-latest-news-list

SINGAPORE: CodeTract (https://codetract.io), a startup that develops smart contracts on Ethereum has partnered with BullionStar, Singapore’s premier bullion dealer to issue gold tokens on Ethereum that are fully backed by gold stored in BullionStar’s vault.

The gold tokens will adhere to token standards and introduce an asset - Gold - that is stable in value for Ethereum, the smart contract blockchain. This serves as a safe-haven amidst other more volatile crypto assets. The operation of the gold token will be governed by a smart contract, which are contracts written in code instead of English, and the Ethereum virtual machine will enforce the smart contract’s code. This ensures that all transfers are authenticated by the owners, all received tokens are valid and all tokens are issued with gold backing. Gold tokens will be initially issued to represent 1 gram of physical gold each, fully backed by BullionStar’s Bullion Savings Program, in BullionStar's vault. 

BullionStar's vaulting solution offers both security and transparency. Gold stored in BullionStar's vault is protected by seven different types of surveillance and is completely insured by XL Insurance Group, the world's largest specie underwriter. For transparency, BullionStar employs 5 different audit schemes, including an bi-annual audit by an independent third party LBMA-approved auditor, to verify the existence, accountability and accuracy of gold stored. Clients are easily able to view these audit reports online.

To enable users to obtain the tokens easily and at a fair price, CodeTract will set up a daily settled auction smart contract. These stable value tokens can in turn be used to transact and interact with other upcoming apps in Ethereum. Fees will be kept to a minimum to encourage permissionless innovation on this fast growing platform with the hope that more mainstream and killer apps can emerge.

On the partnership, CodeTract's cofounder, Mr. Lee Qing Xian, highlighted, "BullionStar’s vault storage solution is exemplary. They have an impeccable focus on transparency with their live audit report, third party audit report, daily physical stock report all easily available online on top of other checks in place. This makes us natural partners as one major foundation of smart contracts and blockchains is transparency. Through that, we can be sure our ownership of things is secured."

"Partnering with CodeTract was a logical step for BullionStar as the leading bullion dealer in Southeast Asia," said Mr. Torgny Persson, CEO of BullionStar. "In recent years, Singapore has been transitioning into a global hub both for the storage and trading of precious metals as well as into a thriving hub for Fintech companies.  The partnership fits well into BullionStar's strategy of introducing modern technology into the age-old precious metals industry."

The beta release of the gold tokens and auction will be in Feb 2017 and Ethereum users will be able to participate.

Starting 1 September 2016, the exemption of gold, silver and platinum coins from Goods and Services Tax (GST) in Singapore has been extended. Click on this link for a list of additional coins now available for purchase at BullionStar.com without GST. 

Channel 8 News - a Chinese News Station in Singapore - interviews BullionStar's COO, Mr. Luke Chua, on the physical gold demand for the first half of 2016 and the reasons behind the rise in gold prices.

Channel News Asia interview with BullionStar's COO, Mr. Luke Chua, as well as customers from BullionStar about their views of the gold market generally and price development specifically. 

Mr. Chua commented on the seasonal demand for gold and the shortage of 100g Gold Bars from popular refineries in light of the gold price falling to six year lows.

Mr. Chua commented on the high physical demand for gold in light of the gold price falling to a five year lows.

Mr. Chua commented on the development of the gold price falling to a five year low pointing out how disconnected the paper gold market is from the physical gold market.

Although we certainly don't agree with the Strait Times headline that Gold is losing lustre, it's correct, as referenced in the article, that the demand for gold is usually higher than there's a lot of volatility in the gold price.

Mr. Persson was interviewed by the Singaporean blog SG Wealth Builder on his predictions for the gold price, competitiveness of Singapore for bullion and development of BullionStar. 

In a step to further increase customer transparency, BullionStar will publish financial information such as sales revenue, number of orders, average order, medium order, website visits and more bi-annually in infographic style. The sales revenue for 2014 was SGD 53 M with the average order being SGD 6,475. Go to BullionStar Financials 2014 - Year in Review for more data and information.  

BullionStar has released a 100 gram gold bar which at any given time can be bought for the same price it can be sold. The gold bar has an inscription stating "Money since 4000 B.C." on the reverse matching BullionStar's ideological belief that gold is money.

Sputnik News - GoldCore Broker Says Owning Gold Best Way to Grow Wealth in 2015

The Guardian - Fears that ‘dangerous’ Switzerland referendum could spark gold rush

BullionStar is the first employer in Singapore to pay employees in Gold and Silver! View Channel News Asia's coverage here featuring BullionStar's CEO, Mr. Torgny Persson and Sales Manager Mr. Vincent Tie. The press release can be read here. 

Mr Torgny Persson, CEO of BullionStar Pte Ltd gave his views on Channel News Asia 28 August on the reason why gold and silver is valuable and why it is better to own gold than diamonds as the pricing of gold and silver is more transparent.

Watch this video to see when David from CoinRepublic visited BullionStar's bullion retail shop at 45 New Bridge Road in Singapore to buy gold using Bitcoins.

BullionStar's CEO, Mr. Torgny Persson, was recently interviewed by Mr. Sunny Pannu of Minaurum.com on his views of the Asian gold market. The interview can be found here. 

Bullionstar's forray in allowing investors to trade Bitcoin for precious metals was featured in E27 - Asia's leading resource platform for innovation-led businesses.

"Passport to Freedom" Conference 2014 concluded with a blast in Las Vegas on the 25th Jan 2014!

The much sought-after three days' conference from the 23rd to 25th January 2014 was well-attended by participants from all over the world!

Invited as a speaker, CEO Torgny Persson delivered an awesome, informative session on : "How to store Gold offshore in Singapore?"

A big thanks to our customers on their great reviews of BullionStar on Bullion Reviews Singapore!  Find out how we managed to score a high score of 8 upon 10.

BullionStar was featured on Channel News Asia on the demand of precious metals - Silver and Gold!

BullionStar's CEO was intereviewed by leading alternative currency news portal, Coindesk, for being the first bullion dealer in Asia to offer Bitcoin payment for purchasing physical precious metals.

BullionStar CEO Mr Torgny Persson is interviewed by Singapore's leading newspaper, The Straits Times, on his entrepreneur journey and his investment outlook.

We are interviewed by the Wall Street Journal on the demand for silver coins demand in Asia.

With the recent dip in precious metals spot prices since April, we were asked by Reuters on our outlook in the bullion market.

To support Singapore Press Holding's campaign to boost its readership and reward their readers, BullionStar is proud to be participating in the campaign by sponsoring Gold Bars and Silver Coins as part of the prizes! Get your Golden Ticket now and stand a chance to win over SGD$60,000 worth of gold from BullionStar!

Get yours by Monday to redeem 7 issues of The New Paper and an instant scratch-and-win treat by Swensen's! You also get three chances to play the Lucky Boxy game here: http://tnp.goldenticket.sg/.

If you haven’t, head down to any 7-Eleven store island wide or get it online here: http://buyonline.goldenticket.sg/.

BullionStar was approached by journalists from the Business Times to give our thoughts on the silver market and the article was published on the front page of the newspaper.

We intend to work closely with reporters and journalists who are interested in the precious metals industry and will be updating the articles and publications that BullionStar is featured in from time to time.

After months of hard work and dedication, the BullionStar team is proud to announce the launch of its online trading platform. Customer can now buy physical precious metals from renowned refineries around the world with a click of the mouse. BullionStar aims to build on the launch of the website and become the premier bullion dealer in Singapore.

BullionStar's website www.bullionstar.com is accessible for users to view information, read articles and browse around. The website is however not fully functional and is only in its testing phase. BullionStar is therefore currently not taking any orders but will commence trading shortly. A new announcement will be made at this page when a launch date is set and when the site is operational.

Since 1 October 2012, Investment Precious Metals (IPM) are exempted from GST in Singapore. Since there's no capital gains tax in Singapore, this step means that Investment Precious Metals in Singapore are now completely tax-free. The Singaporean government is keen on creating a precious metals hub in Singapore with the aim of increasing Singapore's share of worldwide trade in gold from the current 2% to 10% within 5-10 years. With the objective of creating an Asia-Pacific industry hub for precious metals, the following items will be exempted from GST (Revised 1 September 2016) :

Bullion bars, ingots and wafers must meet the following criteria to be exempted:

a) Minimum purity of 99.5% for gold, 99.9% for silver, 99% for platinum

b) Capable of being traded on the international bullion market meaning that the refiner/manufacturer must be or have been listed on the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) 'Good Delivery' list of 

c) Have a mark or characteristic that is internationally accepted as guaranteeing its quality

d) It is not a decorative bar, ingot or wafer or a collector's bar, ingot or wafer.

In addition the following bullion coins are exempted:

(a) List of Qualifying Gold Coins

(i) America Buffalo
(ii) Australia Kangaroo Nugget
(iii) Australia Lunar
(iv) Austria Philharmonic
(v) Canada Maple Leaf
(vi) China Panda
(vii) Malaysia Kijang Emas
(viii) Mexico Libertad
(ix) Singapore Lion
(x) United Kingdom Britannia
(xi) Canada Call of the Wild 3-coin series
(xii) United Kingdom Lunar
(xiii) United Kingdom The Queen's Beasts 10-coin series

(b) List of Qualifying Silver Coins

(i) America Eagle
(ii) Australia Kookaburra
(iii) Australia Koala
(iv) Australia Lunar
(v) Austria Philharmonic
(vi) Canada Maple Leaf
(vii) China Panda
(viii) Mexico Libertad
(ix) United Kingdom Britannia
(x) Australia Saltwater Crocodile
(xi) Canada Wildlife 6-coin series
(xii) Canada Birds of Prey 4-coin series
(xiv) Armenia Noah's Ark
(xv) Australia Kangaroo
(xvi) United Kingdom The Queen's Beasts 10-coin series

(c) List of Qualifying Platinum Coins

(i) America Eagle
(ii) Australia Koala
(iii) Australia Platypus
(iv) Canada Maple Leaf
(v) Austria Philharmonic

Coins that are not on the prescribed list cannot qualify as IPM and will continue to be taxable.

BullionStar is launching its BullionStar charity program to assist people in fulfilling their dreams and to give back to the community.

A new memorandum of understanding gives BullionStar Pte Ltd the opportunity of sourcing gold and silver bars from the renowned German mint Heraeus at a very advantageous rate. Some logistical challenges remain to be solved but we are convinced that we will be able to offer our customers a full range of Heraeus products. 

With the news that Investment Precious Metals will be exempted from GST starting October 1, BullionStar is launching a full service webpage where orders can be placed in real time 24/7. This is only the first release out of many to ensure that BullionStar will take a leading position as the premier bullion dealer in Singapore.