Is BullionStar safe ?

[Martin Everson]

Forgive me for asking this basic question. Banks in Singapore deal in paper gold through their bank apps. I suspect these would have to comply with CRS. Correct?

Yup banks, brokers and life insurance companies all have to comply with CRS. I can tell you this firsthand.

I get SG is not far from UAE when it comes to dictatorship, but why do we all prefer to keep money in SG banks of all countries?

It's worse than UAE when it comes to certain offenses....lol. Still people like stable efficient financial centres to hold assets long term.

Singapore hardens opinion against death penalty as ‘sense of injustice’ grows

High-profile death row case prompts some Singaporeans to call for executions to be halted though overall support for capital punishment remains high

www.theguardian.com

--- quote start

Nagaenthran’s relatives and supporters have campaigned tirelessly for his life to be spared. He was arrested in 2009, aged 21, for attempting to smuggle a small amount of heroin – about three tablespoons – into Singapore and has since spent more than a decade on death row.

---- quote end

 

[JackAlabama]

Is there a better gold company (buy and store) in Singapore? Any names? Would it be cheaper to buy gold and store it yourself in a bank deposit box there?

Before 2020 I would have said yes. But now, nope.
You could (can?) not even fly there without fulfilling xyz medical treatments the glorious city of Singapore deems needed to land on their precious shores. They are also fairly nationalistic, but you are tolerated with money. Ang Mos are not seen in the best of light and lets not talk about other nations.
Also they are overzealous as far as e.g. health and other issues and rather German-like strict in enforcing rules.

Try to get a fully automated version as you most likely will not be able to travel when you need to and just use it as a mix into an overall portfolio as in Asia you have anyway not much say as a foreigner and they do not like nor desire personal freedom and have a collectivist mind over all. This risk is of course compensated with good growth and the fact they need to attract foreign wealth to their shores to keep growing (hence keep your Gold etc. safe.)

Forgive me for asking this basic question. Banks in Singapore deal in paper gold through their bank apps. I suspect these would have to comply with CRS. Correct?

Yes, all of that. You do xyz thru your bank by whatever channel, CRS.

 

[backpacker]

Is there a better gold company (buy and store) in Singapore? Any names? Would it be cheaper to buy gold and store it yourself in a bank deposit box there?

If you like to buy physical gold or other precious metals in physical form, make sure that you always have direct access. That said, do not store them in a different country where you need to fulfill some obscure entry requirements before even being allowed to see your physically stored metals.
As COVID has taught us, offshore is of limited value and of zero value when it comes to store physical items. You can easily be expropriated just by changing immigration rules.
The minimum requirement for storing physical gold (or other valuables) offshore would be to have permanent residency in that country. Everything else is naive.

they are overzealous as far as e.g. health and other issues and rather German-like strict in enforcing rules.

True. And therefore best to be avoided.

 

[Golden Fleece]

The minimum requirement for storing physical gold (or other valuables) offshore would be to have permanent residency in that country. Everything else is naive.

Everything else is naive? Have you never heard of computers and the internet.? You do not need permanent residency to buy and store gold in Singapore, Switzerland, or any other major offshore financial haven. You can still keep your holding segregated and all you need is an internet connection.

 

[backpacker]

Everything else is naive? Have you never heard of computers and the internet.? You do not need permanent residency to buy and store gold in Singapore, Switzerland, or any other major offshore financial haven. You can still keep your holding segregated and all you need is an internet connection.

Take a deep breath. Then switch into "civilized mood".

Explained just for you: Nobody is required by law to hold permanent residency in SG or CH to store gold there. However, if you want to have unlimited access, the minimun requirement (better: precaution) would be to have permanent residency because otherwise you might not have the possibility to enter the country.
Of course, you can keep your holdings segregated without any precaution: You will just have list control over your segregated gold.
Ask Russians if they still can still place an order to sell their segregated gold with BullionStar and if they then can get the proceeds transferred to their bank account ....

Do not trust all these promises - at the end BullionStar is not more than Binance, Kraken and the like.
Btw., if you would have ever seen how Singapore courts rule you would not want to bank there: It is always in favour of the local industry when a foreigner is involved.

 

[Marie Manila]

That said, do not store them in a different country where you need to fulfill some obscure entry requirements before even being allowed to see your physically stored metals.

I'd rather store it in a different country, so that my local government doesn't have direct access to it.
If I want to store it in my country, I'd store it at home.

 

[JackAlabama]

Take a deep breath. Then switch into "civilized mood".

Explained just for you: Nobody is required by law to hold permanent residency in SG or CH to store gold there. However, if you want to have unlimited access, the minimun requirement (better: precaution) would be to have permanent residency because otherwise you might not have the possibility to enter the country.
Of course, you can keep your holdings segregated without any precaution: You will just have list control over your segregated gold.
Ask Russians if they still can still place an order to sell their segregated gold with BullionStar and if they then can get the proceeds transferred to their bank account ....

Do not trust all these promises - at the end BullionStar is not more than Binance, Kraken and the like.
Btw., if you would have ever seen how Singapore courts rule you would not want to bank there: It is always in favour of the local industry when a foreigner is involved.

Spot on. Singapore courts would be about the last I would wanna be involved in as a foreigner.
It can serve as a jurisdictional by mix in an overall portfolio or if it is impossible to store at home.

 

[Golden Fleece]

Btw., if you would have ever seen how Singapore courts rule you would not want to bank there: It is always in favour of the local industry when a foreigner is involved.

You would not want to do that in the first place. That is a major violation of one of the fundamental precepts of flag theory: you never do major banking in a country where you do business (and most especially especially if the rule of law in that country treats foreigners differently than the locals).

Ideally, you should keep your flags separate and insulated from each other. So, if you do business with a local industry in Singapore, you would not want to do major banking there. In fact, if that is how the courts treat foreigners, I would refrain from doing business there. Use it solely as a banking flag.

 

[backpacker]

You would not want to do that in the first place. That is a major violation of one of the fundamental precepts of flag theory: you never do major banking in a country where you do business (and most especially especially if the rule of law in that country treats foreigners differently than the locals).

Ideally, you should keep your flags separate and insulated from each other. So, if you do business with a local industry in Singapore, you would not want to do major banking there. In fact, if that is how the courts treat foreigners, I would refrain from doing business there. Use it solely as a banking flag.

The sad thing here: Local industry includes local financial industry.
Look through SG expat forums which are full of stories regarding lost cases against in insurance companies. Even more obscure, the constant complaints regarding the handling of dividend tax deduction (only applicable to expats outside SG).

But now we are leaving the topic

 

[maxmoney]

Yup banks, brokers and life insurance companies all have to comply with CRS. I can tell you this firsthand.

did they report you @Martin Everson will you be send out as prisoner to a neighbor island somewhere, small one?

 

[Martin Everson]

did they report you @Martin Everson will you be send out as prisoner to a neighbor island somewhere, small one?

lol....no nothing bad happened .

 

[RexS9999]

Regarding Singapore banks. My wife and I have both been contacted by our local banks in our home country and had to explain incoming wire transfers of not much over $10,000 USD. Has anyone here had that happen with Singapore banks? If one had an account there would this happen for relatively small amounts of money?

 

[JackAlabama]

Regarding Singapore banks. My wife and I have both been contacted by our local banks in our home country and had to explain incoming wire transfers of not much over $10,000 USD. Has anyone here had that happen with Singapore banks? If one had an account there would this happen for relatively small amounts of money?

Are you guys located in EU?
EU banks (some more some less, depending on the strictness of the country) have lists of suspect countries which will trigger them to question you if you send/receive money to/from and you need to explain the reason of transfer.

 

[BlueMist]

Regarding Singapore banks. My wife and I have both been contacted by our local banks in our home country and had to explain incoming wire transfers of not much over $10,000 USD. Has anyone here had that happen with Singapore banks? If one had an account there would this happen for relatively small amounts of money?

2 people I know had the same request from their home country authorities to explain the funds in Singapore (although they never transferred to their home country bank). But that's pretty normal considering the AEOI I think?

 

[Martin Everson]

It's worse than UAE when it comes to certain offenses....lol. Still people like stable efficient financial centres to hold assets long term.

Singapore hardens opinion against death penalty as ‘sense of injustice’ grows

High-profile death row case prompts some Singaporeans to call for executions to be halted though overall support for capital punishment remains high

www.theguardian.com

--- quote start

Nagaenthran’s relatives and supporters have campaigned tirelessly for his life to be spared. He was arrested in 2009, aged 21, for attempting to smuggle a small amount of heroin – about three tablespoons – into Singapore and has since spent more than a decade on death row.

---- quote end

They executed him for a crime committed at 21 years old 12 years ago . Terminated his life for 3 tablespoons of banned substance. Don't agree with drugs but this is Saudi level punishment.

Singapore executes man on drugs charge, rejecting mental disability plea

Nagaenthran Dharmalingam was on death row for years for trying to bring in a small amount of heroin.

www.bbc.com

So glad I don't have my Bullionstar account any more and have no need to travel there. Would not want to deal with Singapore courts after hearing something like this.

 

[mnschwarz]

I always had a good experience with BullionStar. I haven't used them for a fair while now but did speak to them last year. They informed me that while fiat funds need to be deposited from or withdrawn to an account in the same name, you can however deposit crypto from any wallet and purchase gold. It's one of the ways that people cash out while being able to provide their bank a source of funds from the sale. Their storage fees were always quite good and they had some zero spread gold/silver if you're just after the metal. Some of their other products have higher spreads, including if purchased with crypto. As mentioned things may have changed since I dealt with them but if I were holding bullion again I'd go back to them.

 

[backpacker]

Would not want to deal with Singapore courts after hearing something like this.

Well, and now think what will happen when a Non-Singaporean complains about being treated unfairly by the SG financial industry:

Btw., if you would have ever seen how Singapore courts rule you would not want to bank there: It is always in favour of the local industry when a foreigner is involved.

The country is an absolute no-go for offshore banking (if you have other options) and what the SG financial industry has on offer is easily available in other jurisdictions at a far lower price tag.

 

[JackAlabama]

Well, and now think what will happen when a Non-Singaporean complains about being treated unfairly by the SG financial industry:

The country is an absolute no-go for offshore banking (if you have other options) and what the SG financial industry has on offer is easily available in other jurisdictions at a far lower price tag.

Well to be in defense for them. Stuff works like in the book and they are bone headed in doing the paperwork without any leeway (in a reflection of the society in general).

I would not trust them with any meaningful amount but for some pocket change it is ok for doing boring business stuff in Asia.

 

[freedomseeker]

Was not KYC issue for me. It was fact they froze my empty account and never informed me of this or fact they wanted any KYC. Only by chance I logged in and found password would not work. Contacted them and they said account was frozen and they are now asking everyone for KYC.

P.S When a company behaves like this it is a big red flag of an internal or external pressure on them . Don't ignore the signs.

Where would you recommend instead now?

 

[Martin Everson]

Where would you recommend instead now?

Sorry....recommend for what?