mineweb.com / By Lawrence Williams / Monday , 21 Jan 2013
Not that we necessarily think the U.S. Government, or other governments, will take the huge step of confiscating their citizens’ gold holdings, but if this is something that worries the precious metals investor, perhaps one should consider buying silver instead?
Gold investors who worry about gold confiscation in the U.S. have, reportedly, been rushing to hold their bullion investments outside the U.S. jurisdiction in countries such as Switzerland, Singapore or the U.K. But as Julian Phillips has pointed out in a number of articles on gold confiscation, the long arm of U.S. law, and political persuasion, can be very far-reaching. There’s no guarantee that overseas-held bullion won’t be clawed back in a similar manner to the way details of U.S. citizens’ bank accounts in countries which have long had a policy of bank secrecy have been released to U.S. legislators by banks who fear likely legal and financial sanctions imposed by U.S. courts.
Holding gold in overseas banks or depositories could also be made illegal, with enormous fines, or imprisonment threatened for those who might break the law and not turn over their gold wherever it may be held. How many would take the risk of details of their gold holdings not eventually being made available to the U.S. government, or to any other governments which might take such a draconian measure?
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