AFE Bailment Process
A “Bailment” describes a legal relationship in common law where physical possession of personal property (chattels) is transferred from one person (the ‘bailor’) to another person (the ‘bailee’) who acts as a custodian of the property.
Bailment is distinguished from a contract of sale or a gift of property, as it only involves the transfer of possession and not its ownership.
This is important, as you remain the sole legal owner of your gold and silver, while AFE is only your custodian.
AN EXAMPLE OF THE BAILMENT PROCESS
When AFE orders gold or silver bars from one of several LBMA certified refineries, those bars are then poured, certified, and transported to the secure vaulting facilities by certified armored carrier and fully insured for the full market value while in transit.
Once the metal is unloaded from the armored trucks, the individual bars are sight inspected and verified against a “weight list” of bars from the refinery by a third party Bullion Auditor, a representative of AFE, and a representative of the vault.
The reports from this sight inspection as well as deposit receipts from the vault are made available to the Independent Trustee for verification against the records of AFE and accounts of AFE clients.
By governance contract, no metal can be removed from the vault without approval of the Independent Trustee, and the presence of the duly appointed third party Bullion Auditor, and a representative of the vault.
LBMA "Good Delivery" bar. 400 troy ounces
Grant & Thornton checking off LBMA Bar numbers, with ViaMat agents at ViaMat Security Vaults in Kloten, Zurich.
ViaMat Security staff placing seal numbers on individual pallets.
Simon Heapes at a recent Zurich Bailment
400 oz gold bars in separate security casings
Independent Auditor sighting and verifying individual bars
‘Good Delivery’ silver bar with LBMA refinery Hallmark and bar number
AFE’s Philip Judge with 400 oz (12.5 kg) gold ‘good delivery’ bar
