Thanks Peter - I really appreciate your taking the time to respond on here, and hearing your take on this. I certainly hope you're right. It seems that the meaning of “as originally received” will hinge on how customers' precious metals assets within EPB were transferred to QENTA - either:
- EPB liquidated customers' metals accounts into cash, and QENTA then converted that cash into gold within their system; or
- Custodianship of EPB customers' metals was directly transferred to QENTA.
It seems we don't have clarity on this point at present. However, this quote from the December 16, 2022 update on the website suggests Route 1 happened:
...suggesting that QENTA "originally received" cash, with instructions to convert these to amounts of gold mirroring customers' EPB metals holdings.
It's also worth asking why QENTA are bailing now. Walking away at this late stage doesn’t recover the extra costs they’ve complained about, and it means giving up the potential long-term benefits of finally acquiring the new customers and assets under management. A plausible explanation is that the gold holdings have appreciated significantly, and QENTA now stands to gain more by keeping those profits - which will surely dwarf whatever additional costs they've incurred - than by completing the migration.
Also, if QENTA truly incurred substantial unexpected costs, it makes no sense that they’re now willing to return all assets
without seeking reimbursement or holding something back. That contradiction supports the idea that they’re making up for it elsewhere – likely via retained profits from gold appreciation.
Relatively speaking of course, this issue sits lower on the priority list than simply getting anything back at all - and in that respect, I’d be very happy if QENTA returns the original cash amounts to the receiver. But if the more cynical interpretation of their intents is correct, opt-in customers bore all the counterparty risk of having their assets held by this company for years, yet are potentially now being told they are not entitled to none of the upside from the asset appreciation.