Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Genneva’s gold scheme draws brickbats & bouquets

In Malaysia a strange gold scheme is winning hearts of many customers and it is spreading rumours that the scheme is a fraudulent one because it is logically not sustainable.

However, the business is thriving for Genneva Sdn Bhd, a company that sells gold coins and bars to the public, and more and more people are attracted to the scheme now.

Even though there are allegations that the project is a ponzi scheme, the company denied it vehemently saying that their project is very much safe and it can sustain any market fluctuations.

The group’s arguments is that their scheme is uniquely profitable, viable and sustainable business because its product, which is gold, is a safe haven in any time of uncertainty and is not subject to wild fluctuations in price in the world markets.

Genneva’s business model enables customers to purchase physical gold at a discount compared to domestic market prices. The company also provided a conditional buy-back guarantee for the purchase at the same price that the customer had paid for the gold. Genneva sources its gold needs from the international market, where prices can be lower by as much as 17% compared to the recommended retail selling prices by the Federation of Goldsmiths and Jewellers Associations of Malaysia.

The firm then sells its own issued gold coins and bars to the public at a discount compared with prevailing market prices set by the federation. It still would make a profit on these sales.

The company provides a conditional buy-back guarantee for purchasers who may want to resell their gold after buying it. The company is still able to generate continuous income from its profits made from trading gold to enable it to repurchase gold from the customers if they wish to sell it back to the company.

Under the scheme, Genneva’s obligation is to buy back the gold at the same price without discount after a 90-day holding period. There is a week’s grace to sell the gold back to Genneva. Any sale back to Genneva before or after 97 days will be at lower prices to be negotiated.

Genneva gives a discount of around 5% on the domestic market price set by the federation. The discount is paid either at the time of purchase or up to three months after that in instalments.

Genneva guarantees the standard and purity of all gold coins issued by the company as 99.9%. This means customers can also sell their gold coins or bars purchased from Genneva at any goldsmiths that accept gold trade-ins.

Genneva said the company’s business of buying and selling physical gold does not require a licence to operate from Bank Negara.

On June 28, the group formed Samudra-GV Sdn Bhd with a vision to open up the gold market to Malaysians of every race and religion by making the product available to people from all walks of life.

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