Le Minh Hung, deputy governor of State Bank of Vietnam, has advised entities and individuals who own bent or warped gold bars or possess non-SJC bullion not to sell off or trade at a low price.
While meeting with media on Friday, August 17, he stressed that those in possession of such gold bars should wait and avoid losses.
At present, people are very worried that the current regulations have created conditions for the SJC Company to have exclusive manufacturing, sales and purchasing of gold bars. They also complained about the SJC refusal to buy back warped or damaged gold bars.
Adding to this, many gold shops have refused to buy non-SJC gold bullion from people, and others have tried to acquire them at lower prices although the central bank in its decree does not discriminate between SJC and non-SJC-gold bars.
Even if they are sold to the original manufacturers, the price of non-SJC gold bars is now below listed price.
Concerning this problem, deputy governor Hung said the central bank is preparing regulations on production of SJC brand gold bars, and the new regulations will be released soon.
These new policies will include rules for exchanging damaged gold bars or non-SJC bullion for SJC bars. It is a fact that during the process of transportation and trading of gold bars, it is inevitable that certain bars are damaged while their value and weight remains unchanged, he added.
The general principle of the new regulations is that all bent and buckled SJC gold bars and all non-SJC gold bars that still meet other standards of quality and weight can be exchanged for SJC bars if the owners so choose, Hung confirmed.
As stipulated in Decree No 24/2012/ND-CP on gold trading management dated May 25, 2012, the State holds monopoly over gold bar production. The SBV has been assigned by the Government to manage it, said Hung.
However, SJC gold bars enjoy long-term prestige and quality, and have been accepted by the market. In addition, SJC has taken up a major market share in the domestic gold market.
Therefore, to save costs for the State and society as well as to avoid disruption in gold bar trading and production, the central bank consulted with the Government and the HCMC People's Committee and reached an agreement on selecting SJC as the State brand, the deputy governor said.
As of now, SJC is not allowed to conduct further production of gold bars while it continues to carry out normal business activities such as buying and selling (or rejecting) SJC gold bars as well as non-SJC bullion in line with current regulations.
Hung said that since the State has selected SJC as the State brand, all kinds of SJC gold bars are legal and eligible, but in case where certain gold bars are bent or otherwise damaged in the process of circulation, the SBV (which is considered as the State monopoly agency in production of gold bars) will do its best to reprocess these to protect the interest and benefit of those who own them.
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