Because it is of great importance for our account holders to know that the positions are actually there, my colleague Nick Finson and I were allowed to be present at the 2019 audit for our Amsterdam vault location. Not strictly necessary but desirable because our observations are confirmation of the agreements we make with our account holders. The trust they give us is a great asset and also brings obligations.

As a precious metal specialist I have daily conversations with our account holders about the precious metals that we offer, I analyse macro-economic and geopolitical indicators and I follow markets closely. I am also a Safety and Security Expert and Certified Security Intelligence Professional. These titles and associated training courses have given me the competences and experiences to get a good impression of safety and security. Something that plays a crucial role in the storage of physical precious metals.

The physical possession of gold and silver has as an important characteristic, the exclusion of 'third party risk'. Owning gold means independence. It is value in itself and has been the ultimate form of money for 5000 years. At GoldRepublic we are always looking for ways to minimize the "third party risk" against which gold and silver offer protection. GoldRepublic sends all account holders a daily precious metal allocation which represents legal proof of ownership. GoldRepublic also delivers positions upon request. In addition, we also facilitate inspections of the position in Frankfurt and Zurich. All this to minimize third party risk. In addition, it is also important to be able to see for yourself where the precious metal of our account holders is located in order to, if necessary, tighten security requirements or make proposals to improve them.

After the visit, I am convinced that the gold of our customers is in good hands in the vault in Amsterdam. I was impressed by the measures and efforts taken to give an authorized visitor access to the area where the audit took place. Multiple layers of security, all under the supervision of hundreds of cameras and under the supervision of highly trained and experienced staff, exclude covert movements. In addition, only the previously discussed purpose of the annual audit gave us the opportunity to participate in the visual inspection of the contents of the safe. Under other circumstances, GoldRepublic is also not allowed to inspect the positions of our account holders. And it is this conscious independence between the safe depositary and GoldRepublic that introduces an extra hurdle and further limits third party risk.

The audit was of course a success and no deviations were found. The audit report will be published for our account holders on the GoldRepublic website. All this to ensure that the gold, silver and platinum of our account holders are not only 100% physically present, but also in highly secured locations and in impregnable vaults.