The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has issued guidelines on how the Mosi-oa-Tunya gold coins can be purchased. They are set to be introduced on the 25th of this July. In a notice seen by Pindula News, the central bank said the gold coins shall be sold at the prevailing international price of gold plus 5% to cover the cost of production and distribution of the coin on a Payment vs Delivery basis. Reads the notice:
GUIDELINES FOR THE PURCHASE OF THE MOSI-OA-TUNYA GOLD COIN
JULY 2022
Exchange Control Directive RX 20 (dated 18 July 2022) issued in terms of Section 35 (1) of the Exchange Control Regulations, Statutory Instrument 109 of 1996
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Pursuant to the Press Statement of 4 July 2022, announced by the Governor on the introduction of the Mosi-oa-Tunya gold coins, the following terms and conditions shall apply.
2. SPECIFICATIONS OF THE MOSI-OA-TUNYA GOLD COIN
2.1 The gold coin shall have the following specifications: –
i. Denomination 1 Oz, for the time being ii. Material Gold iii. Purity 22 carats (91.67%) iv. Diameter 32 mm v. Weight 33.93g vi. Shape Round vii. Edge Type Reeded with serial number engraved viii. Quality Proof ix. Thickness 2.63mm. 3. QUALITIES OF THE MOSI-OA-TUNYA GOLD COIN
3.1 The gold coin shall have the following qualities;
i. Liquid Asset Status ii. Prescribed Asset Status iii. Collateral Acceptability iv. Tradable v. Serial numbering vi. Central Bank buy-back when required by the holder of the gold coin. 4. SELLING PROCEDURES
4.1 The Bank will appoint agents that include Authorised Dealers (banks), its subsidiaries and foreign banks that will be responsible for selling the gold coins on its behalf.
4.2 All sales of the gold coin by the agents will be subject to normal Know Your Customer (KYC) principles in line with international best practice, which include declaration of the source of funds (see Annexure 1— Indicative KYC Documents that may be requested by Agents).
4.3 The gold coins shall be sold at prevailing international price of gold plus 5% to cover the cost of production and distribution of the coin on a Payment vs Delivery basis.
4.4 The Bank shall publish the Mosi-oa-Tunya gold coin price by 0800 hours daily, which shall be based on the previous day’s London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) PM Fix plus the cost of producing the coin.
4.5 The Mosi-oa-Tunya gold coins shall be sold with an accompanying bearer certificate with security features.
4.6 Agents shall sell the Mosi-oa-Tunya gold coins in both local currency (ZWL) and United States Dollars (US$) and other tradable/denominated foreign currencies at the willing-buyer willing-seller exchange rate. Denominated currencies for the purpose of buying gold coins will include the British Pound, the Euro, Australian Dollar, Botswana Pula and Rand.
4.7 Upon receipt of the purchase price from the gold coin buyers, the Agent shall transfer to the Reserve Bank within 24 hours, the amounts received from purchasers in the currencies of purchase.
4.8 The following selling arrangements shall apply for different buyers:-
i. Domestic buyers including individuals may buy in local currency or foreign currency;
ii. Domestic corporates including institutional investors will be allowed to buy gold coins in local currency or foreign currency, subject to quantity restrictions where it is deemed necessary;
iii. Exporting entities shall buy Mosi-oa-Tunya gold coins in foreign currency, from their retained export portions. Notwithstanding this requirement, exporters whose annual export receipts in 2021 were less than US$1 million, shall require a specific Exchange Control approval to be permitted to utilise a portion of their surrender portion that is payable in local currency, to purchase the gold coins;
iv. Local banking institutions shall not be allowed to buy Mosi-oa-Tunya gold coins for own portfolios up until such a time as the Reserve Bank may grant the permission. Thus for the time being, banks can only receive the coins from the Reserve Bank for onward selling to their customers on behalf of the Reserve Bank; and
v. Non-resident (international) buyers shall only buy the Mosi-oa-Tunya gold coins in denominated foreign currencies.
5. OWNERSHIP OF THE GOLD COINS
5.1 Once payment has been received by the Agent through normal banking channels, a buyer of the gold coin is allowed to take physical possession and ownership of the gold coin or opt to keep the gold coin through a registered bank (custodial services) on terms and conditions of the service provider.
6. OPTIONAL BUYBACK OF MOSI-OA-TUNYA GOLD COINS (COIN REDEMPTION)
6.1 At the discretion of the holder of the gold coin, the Bank or its Agents will buy back the Mosi-oa-Tunya gold coins after a vesting period of 180 days in line with the need to promote a savings culture in the country.
6.2 All gold coins purchases by the Bank or its Agents shall require the submission of the original bearer certificate’ for the specific coin. Coins shall be purchased at the prevailing international price of gold on spot basis.
6.3 On redemption, both residents and non-residents (international buyers), will have the option to be paid in US Dollars (US$) or Zimbabwe Dollars (ZWL) depending on their choice.
6.4 KYC principles will also be applied on all purchases by the Bank.
7. EXPORT OF THE MOSI-OA-TUNYA GOLD COINS
7.1 Residents and non-residents (international buyers) shall be allowed to take out (export) Mosi-oa-Tunya gold coins supported by the bearer certificate for each coin.
8. GOLD COIN DISBURSEMENT TO AGENTS/BANKS BY THE RBZ
8.1 Disbursements of gold coins to agents of the Bank shall be determined by the rating and size of the agent, as well as the demand and supply of gold coins.
8.2 Agents are expected to provide daily returns to the Bank for monitoring and compliance. The relevant templates shall be provided to the appointed Agents.
‘ Security features of the bearer certificate and gold coin will be published for the information of the public.