Bank Secrecy, Asset Security
Research for Online Investors

by John Dalt

This article appeared in MarketToday on 7/9/10

The U.S. government makes you report money held in overseas accounts. Last year Switzerland’s UBS bank paid a fine of $780 million dollars and disclosed the names of 4,450 U.S. citizens with accounts.

According to the U.K. Guardian, the U.S. has initiated a new criminal investigation into clients of HSBC bank, to determine if they are depositing money in undeclared bank accounts in Singapore and India.  Kevin Downing, a senior official at the U.S. Dept. of Justice, told a conference of tax lawyers in New York that “The department of justice and IRS are devoting a ton of resources to this issue.”

The crackdown on Switzerland’s UBS resulted in 14,700 U.S. citizens disclosing accounts with values from $10,000 to $100 million.  Under an amnesty plan they could avoid criminal prosecution if they disclosed the accounts and paid a penalty.

We found a way to move money out of the U.S., avoid disclosure, and it is completely legal.  It is not complicated, but I want to give you a little background.

The Perth Mint is Australia’s oldest operating mint.  They opened June 20, 1899 under jurisdiction of the British government.  Today the Perth Mint is owned by Gold Corp. which is wholly owned by the Government of Western Australia.  The Perth Mint manufactures numismatic items and most of Australia’s precious metal coins.

The Perth Mint offers the Perth Mint Certificate (PMC).  U.S. citizens can buy Perth Mint Certificates from U.S. dealers to hold gold, silver or platinum in Perth’s vaults.  There is an initial purchase of $10,000 required but smaller amounts can be added after your account is established.

You can choose an allocated or unallocated account.  If you chose allocated, you may select coins, bullion, or bars and your precious metals are held separately.  Allocated accounts must pay storage.  Unallocated accounts hold bullion, and pay no storage charges.

Your precious metals are held under government guarantee and all precious metals held by the Perth Mint for clients are insured by Lloyd's of London.  PMCs are available to U.S. citizens in 49 states* with minimal transaction costs.  Certificates are bought and sold at spot metal prices, so the only “cost” is in the transaction, not a buy/sell spread.  PMCs are not negotiable instruments, but they are transferable at a small cost.

The best part of owning PMCs is that the U.S. government does not consider gold as money, or a financial asset.  You can own gold in Australia through a PMC, and never declare it to the government.

PMCs offer you the ability to own precious metals, without taking possession, without paying for storage or insurance, and without disclosure. You can buy them from a dealer in the U.S., and receive your certificate in the mail. When you are ready to sell them, contact the dealer and sell your gold!  You can also take delivery of your gold by visiting the mint or they will help you arrange insured delivery to almost anywhere in the world.

We found two dealers that offer the Perth Mint Certificates; they are Euro Pacific Capital and Asset Strategies.  As before, if you would rather own precious metals and take delivery, we like Colorado Gold. They are a family operation, honest and we like Don’s blog posts on all things political.  We do not receive any compensation from any of these companies, but if you call Colorado Gold tell them you heard about them from galtstock.com

*Perth Mint Certificates are not available to residents of Arizona.

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