More than 150 tons of gold held in custody

Press release Deutsche Börse Group

• 94 ton rise within the past twelve months
• Gold holdings reach total value of almost €6 billion

The gold held in custody for the Xetra-Gold bearer note reached a new record high of 157.9 tons, an increase by approximately 94 tons within the past twelve months. At the beginning of 2017, holdings stood at 117.6 tons. Gold deposits increase when investors buy Xetra-Gold bonds via the stock exchange: for each Xetra-Gold note, exactly one gram of gold is deposited in the central vaults for German securities in Frankfurt.

“The steep increase since the beginning of the year is primarily due to institutional investors. The current political uncertainty in the US and Britain have caused demand for gold to rise”, says Steffen Orben, Managing Director of Deutsche Börse Commodities GmbH, the issuer of Xetra-Gold.

Among all exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) tradable on Xetra, Xetra-Gold is by far the most successful in terms of turnover. In 2016, order book turnover on Xetra stood at approximately €2.7 billion. The assets managed by Xetra-Gold currently amount to €5.9 billion.

Xetra-Gold investors are entitled to the delivery of the certified amount of physical gold at any time. Since the introduction of Xetra-Gold in 2007, investors have exercised this right 929 times, with a total of 4.6 tons of gold delivered.  

In September 2015, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) had ruled that after a minimum holding period of one year, any profits from the sale or redemption of Xetra-Gold are not subject to the capital gains tax. From a fiscal point of view, the purchase, redemption or sale are thus to be treated equal to a direct purchase or sale of physical gold, such as in bullions or coins.

Xetra® and Xetra-Gold® are registered trademarks of Deutsche Börse AG.