The gold held in custody by Deutsche Börse Commodities GmbH for the purpose of physically backing the Xetra-Gold bond has risen to a new record high of 100.97 tons, an increase of approximately 70 per cent since the beginning of the year. For each Xetra-Gold bond, exactly one gram of gold is deposited in the central vaults for German securities in Frankfurt.
Steffen Orben, Managing Director of Deutsche Börse Commodities GmbH, said:
The recent rise is due especially to demand by institutional investors.”
Among all exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) tradable on Xetra, Xetra-Gold is by far the most successful in terms of turnover. During the first eight months of the year, order book turnover on Xetra stood at approximately €1.7 billion. The assets managed by Xetra-Gold currently amount to €3.8 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 900 times, with a total of 4.5 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.