The assets under custody of Xetra-Gold (ISIN: DE000A0S9GB0) exceeded the 10 billion Euro mark for the first time. The physical holdings of the Gold ETC, which are deposited in the central vault for German securities in Frankfurt, are currently 209.98 tonnes. This means an increase of 6.39 tonnes since the beginning of the year.

“The new record corresponds to the increased gold price, but also to a very strong demand”, explains Steffen Orben, Managing Director of Deutsche Börse Commodities GmbH, the issuer of Xetra-Gold. “With the continuing uncertainty and significant rises on the stock markets, institutional as well as private investors have increased their gold holdings for hedging purposes. According to various studies, five to ten percent of gold is reasonable as an admixture to the portfolio,” says Orben.

With assets under management of €10.20 billion, Xetra-Gold is the leading gold-backed security in Europe. Gold holdings always increase when investors buy Xetra-Gold shares via the stock market. Exactly one gram of gold is deposited in the central vault for each share certificate.

With gold ETCs, investors benefit in particular from the low trading costs via the stock exchange. The bid-ask spread of Xetra-Gold is just a few cents. "The flexible exchange trading of gold-backed ETCs is a decisive advantage compared to owning physical gold. Even small quantities can be purchased at wholesale prices," says Orben.

Xetra Gold investors are also entitled to the delivery of the physical gold. Since the introduction of Xetra-Gold in 2007, investors have made use of it 1,075 times. A total of 5.17 tons of gold have been delivered.

End of last year, Xetra-Gold was successfully launched in the Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The first broker to offer Xetra-Gold is Nordnet. Further brokers will follow soon.

In September 2015, the Federal Fiscal Court announced that gains from the sale or redemption of Xetra-Gold after a minimum holding period of one year would not be subject to withholding tax. The purchase and redemption or sale are thus to be assessed for tax purposes as a direct purchase and sale of physical gold - i.e. as gold bars or gold coins, for example.

Xetra-Gold is issued by Deutsche Börse Commodities GmbH, a joint venture of Deutsche Börse and the banking partners Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, DZ Bank, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. and the Swiss bank Vontobel. The gold producer Umicore is also involved.

About Xetra-Gold

Xetra-Gold® (ISIN: DE000A0S9GB0) is a bearer bond issued by Deutsche Börse Commodities GmbH, 100 percent backed by gold, which securitizes a delivery claim to physical gold. Each individual Xetra-Gold note grants the investor the right to require the issuer to deliver one gram of gold. For Xetra-Gold notes, the Issuer maintains a corresponding amount of gold in physical form and, to a limited extent, in the form of book gold claims. In the form of a security, Xetra-Gold is fungible and as easily transferable as a share. In addition to Germany, Xetra-Gold is authorized for public distribution in Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The complete and legally binding information on the Xetra-Gold bearer bonds can be found in the key information document and the prospectus together with any supplements and the terms and conditions of issue. Investors can obtain these documents free of charge from Deutsche Börse Commodities GmbH, Mergenthalerallee 61, 65760 Eschborn, Germany, or download them from www.xetra-gold.com/downloads.

About Deutsche Börse Commodities GmbH

The Xetra-Gold Issuer Deutsche Börse Commodities GmbH with its registered office in Eschborn is a joint venture of B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. KGaA, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, Deutsche Bank AG, Deutsche Börse AG, DZ Bank AG Deutsche Zentral-Genossenschaftsbank, Frankfurt am Main, Umicore AG & Co. KG and Vontobel Beteiligungen AG. Umicore AG & Co. KG is a subsidiary of Umicore S.A., which operates several gold refineries worldwide and produces gold bars. The issuer's sole business purpose is to provide the market with the 100 percent gold backed Xetra-Gold bond and to enable efficient, transparent and cost-effective trading of this physical form of gold securitisation.