All about: World Gold Council

The World Gold Council is an association that helps in enhancing and maintaining gold demand and markets. It is based in UK and has a branches in USA, Europe, India, Turkey and the Far East. It works in the gold investment, jewelry and technology sectors and also engages itself in government affairs. Here is an introduction to the association.

What it does

Members The World Gold Council has 22 members, including the world’s leading gold mining companies. These members jointly control 60% of the world’s corporate gold production and conduct global mining operations. What does it do? The World Gold Council performs the following: 1. Promotes gold as investment by marketing it worldwide and partnering with financial institutions to create gold investment channels and products. The Council facilitates and promotes trades in the following instruments: a. Investing in bullion coins and small gold bars b. Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are regulated by financial products linked to the spot price of gold, and are traded on all exchanges. c. Trading in gold by means of futures and options d. Gold warrants: These are gold contracts where buyers and sellers commit to a certain gold price on a specified future date. e. Gold accounts are offered by Gold Bullion Banks. Buyers can open an allocated account and store specific gold inventory in a safe deposit box. Or, they can open an unallocated account that credits them with the purchased amount of gold, without specifying the gold inventory. f. Gold Accumulation Plans (GAP) are gold accounts where a certain, specified quantity of gold is purchased and credited every month. g. Gold mining shares can be traded on stock exchanges. h. Gold certificates allow investors to hold gold without taking its physical possession i. Gold-oriented funds, which are like mutual fund offerings with many different structures – open-ended, closed-ended, and units. j. Structured products, which are like forward contracts, and are meant for institutional buyers 2. Protects and enhance the core wedding traditions in India and China, where a lot of gold is worn and gifted during weddings. 3. Helps governments protect their nation’s wealth by investing in gold, accept gold as a collateral security, and research and train on anything and everything concerning gold. 4. Promotes use of gold in technology.

To sum up

Gold prices have fared well in the recent past and it seems that the World Gold Council has done a remarkable job. The western countries are slumping further into a deeper economic mess and the middle-east nations are facing turmoil. Gold values seem poised to climb, and it becomes the responsibility of the Council to ensure that gold remains as an instrument of safety, not speculation.