UBS Closes Physical Gold-Trading Operations At Three Swiss Branches

Thursday November 17, 2016 08:55
(Kitco News) - According to one Swiss national newspaper, the European physical gold market shrank Wednesday as Swiss bank UBS closed its gold-swapping operations at three of its banks -- in Zurich, Basel and Geneva.

UBS Closes Physical GoldIn a statement to the Tagesanzeiger, UBS said that its decision to close its “gold switches” at the three branches was a “business policy decision” to reduce the bank’s costs.

Because of the policy change overnight, customers will not be able to immediately swap their precious metal for cash. The bank also said that it will streamline its bullion coin and bars available for purchase, offering “most common bars and coins.”

Under the new bank policy, customers who wish to sell their bullion, will have to wait up to three days to get their money, “until the bank carries out the appropriate credit, subject to a quality check,” UBS told Tagesanzeiger.