Swiss brokerage Dukascopy Bank has announced the introduction of a new base currency for all of its clients in Switzerland. The account holders will be able to choose gold (XAU) as an alternative to fiat money and use the non-deliverable gold on their accounts as margin collateral with the broker.
The new offering does come with a price however - traders who choose gold as their base currency will get charged a 1 percent interest rate per annum. Dukascopy Bank's customers will be able to open self-trader and current accounts in non-deliverable gold.
With the new option for traders looking into to hold on to what has been considered the ultimate safe haven asset, Dukascopy Bank provides its clients with an alternative to storing physical gold.
A number of brokers have already been offering a similar service through a solution developed by Bullion Capital, the creators of an electronic Exchange for physical gold. The company offers warrants which can be pledged as collateral with partner brokers.
According to the official announcement made by Dukascopy, funding and withdrawing from a gold account may be executed in a number of currencies. The full list follows: USD, CHF, EUR, GBP, JPY, AUD, CAD, DKK, HKD, MXN, NOK, NZD, PLN, RUB, SEK, SGD, TRY or ZAR.
The company pledges to secure its clients competitive exchange rates and tight spreads for their gold transactions.
The deposit protection scheme in Switzerland will remain active with gold accounts and all of Dukascopy Bank Switzerland's clients are entitled to CHF 100,000 protection of their deposits ($105,000).
Clients of the broker will not new able to withdraw physical gold from their accounts. Instead they can cash-out the equivalent in a currency of their choice. Dukascopy’s statement doesn’t exclude the possibility for clients to have the option to convert their non-deliverable gold holdings into physical gold.
