In June of 2023, Dubai-based Emirates Gold found itself removed from the UAE’s ‘Good Delivery List’, which was quite detrimental to its operations. (Meeting the UAE Good Delivery standard is critical for refiners of bullion (and silver) if the bars that they make are to be traded and sold in international commodity markets.)

“This meant our refining production went down, which is the wholesale kilo-bar business,” said Abhijit Shah, who recently took over as CEO of Emirates Gold. “Our capacity was running at probably 30%-35%, even less at times.”

Bright East’s takeover of Emirates Gold adds to its reach in the metals and commodities space. The value of the deal has not been disclosed. The FZCO -based Emirates Gold is into refining and minting of coins and bars. Its operations also cover smelting and assaying (which is to do with determining the quality of gold).

1. Emirates Gold FZCO has not lost its trading license as incorrectly reported in certain articles.

• The suspension of its UAE Good Delivery accreditation is merely a temporary suspension and Management are working with the Emirates Bullion Committee to resolve their concerns and have the accreditation reinstated.

• Emirates Gold has passed all recent compliance audits relating to the Emirates Bullion Committee Compliance requirements for UAE Good Delivery Accreditation, the LBMA Responsible Gold Guidance audit and the Anti Money Laundering audit. Emirates Gold has received highly positive feedback from its compliance auditors on the strength of its compliance processes.

• The suspension by the Emirates Bullion Committee has nothing whatsoever to do with Emirates Gold’s compliance processes, activities or quality control practices and to the best of our knowledge the suspension has come about because of the Emirates Bullion Committee’s perceived risk to its reputation of our shareholding structure. There have been no concerns raised about Emirates Gold’s responsible sourcing and anti-money laundering practices.

• Emirates Gold has at all times strictly followed the rules and processes of the UAE Good Delivery requirements, the LBMA responsible sourcing requirements and the UAE Ministry of Economy Anti Money Laundering rules.

• Emirates Gold is run by a professional management team who maintain the strictest Anti Money Laundering practices who, to the best of its knowledge, and with the assurance of its strong compliance policies, procedures and implementation, have not been party to any money laundering activity as incorrectly reported on certain websites.

• The LBMA suspension has been purely a reaction to the UAE Good Delivery Accreditation suspension.

• To the best of our knowledge the LBMA has not established any breach of its rules by Emirates Gold as incorrectly implied in certain media reports.

• Stakeholders can refer to our website at https://emiratesgold.ae/reports/  for copies of our recent compliance audit reports for both the UAE Good Delivery compliance audit and the LBMA compliance audit.
  
• The ultimate beneficial owners of Emirates Gold have nothing to do with any allegations made by Al Jazeera in their “Gold Mafia Documentary” and are independent and separate from any persons mentioned in this so-called documentary.

We would like to assure our stakeholders that Emirates Gold will continue in business during this time of suspension of our UAE Good Delivery Accreditation and our LBMA affiliate membership whilst it works with the relevant entities to reinstate such accreditation and membership.

Emirates Gold humbly requests the general public not to fall victim to the unseen plot by some vested interests who stand to benefit from the outcome of the ongoing media attack on the company and its ultimate beneficial owners. We look forward to your support to tide over the most unfortunate phase of Emirates Gold’s history and its employees, many of whom have served, with loyalty and professionalism, the company and the industry for decades.

Emirates Gold FZCO

The UAEGD is a standard that provides a framework for the gold sector, in line with international best practices. It covers quality and technical specifications of refineries and gold production facilities in the UAE.

Mohamed Shakarchi can still remember when, as a boy in the 1940s, he would watch his father buying and selling gold at a street market in Beirut.

Traders from around the Levant would come to the Lebanese capital to deal in strips of gold, nicknamed “frenchfries”, in coffee shops thick with smoke from nargile pipes.

“Some of the men would be holding rosary beads saying, ‘I buy, I sell, I buy, I sell’ with every flick of the bead,” Mr Shakarchi recalls.

The inclusion of Emirates Gold into FZCO ‘s approved list of silver refiners is expected to give silver manufacturing in the UAE a significant boost, as silver traders do not have to turn to international suppliers for their requirements.

Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (FZCO ) today announced that Emirates Gold, the only silver refinery in the UAE, has been awarded the Dubai Good Delivery (DGD) status, thereby enabling it to achieve international ranking.

The inclusion of Emirates Gold into FZCO ‘s approved list of silver refiners is expected to give silver manufacturing in the UAE a significant boost, as silver traders do not have to turn to international suppliers for their requirements.

The first edition of the exclusively crafted coins carry an image of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on one side and on the other, the world�s only seven-star hotel, the iconic Burj Al Arab. The second edition, VoD � Palm Edition, was launched in 2010 and carried on the second side an engraved image of the Palm Jumeirah, Dubai�s iconic island project.

The launch marked a significant breakthrough in the coin’s return into the realm of usage. The Islamic Gold Dinar was the currency of the Muslim Community from its first year�s right up to the fall of the Osmanli Khalifate, and was ousted precisely by the persistent infiltration of non-Shari’i money instruments into the Muslims societies, by those forces wishing to harness the vast wealth of the Islamic homelands.

Gold refining and the manufacture of bars take place at the FZCO complex.