Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, provided the IRA custodian agrees to allow for BFI Bullion in the IRA and signs the application accordingly. We are aware that some US IRA custodians allow for foreign precious metals storage. This is something you might have to check on with your custodian or specialized US-based companies.

Yes, you can name a Power of Attorney. The PoA gives the third party a right to purchase, sell, and give other instructions on your behalf, so it is a powerful right to give. A notarized copy of the valid passport of the Attorney would need to be provided, plus an original-signed form confirming all parties’ agreement on the PoA.

Your Client Login Portal has a variety of tools and features that you can use, and those will continue to grow. New clients will be able to complete their application process, and existing clients will be able to submit Buy and Sell orders. You can see your holdings at any time, review current/past transactions, download the most important forms, or pay the annual storage fees via credit card. You can also communicate with us through our highly secure, Portal Messenger, which we recommend all of our clients use.

The “Client Reference Account” is the account where you are either wiring the funds for a purchase from, or where we wire cash residuals or sales proceeds to. We can only wire to an account in the name of the BFI Bullion client. The Account can be changed in the future, or you can keep more than one.

Yes, joint ownership is possible. Joint Ownership under BFI Bullion is dealt with as tenancy in common, meaning that each owner owns an equal share of the holdings and do not necessarily have a right of ownership to each other. For estate planning purposes, sometimes the use of a trust or other entity could be beneficial.

First, take a few short minutes to register online. You will then receive access to your very own personal and highly secure Client Online Portal. After validating your identity document(s) and completing our onboarding process, you’ll be ready for your first purchases. Alternatively, we also have a manual application process that can be done via mail, email or fax.

BFI Bullion accepts private, individual clients, as well as legal entities. Therefore, yes, we can accept a trust, foundation, partnership, or company, provided our anti-money laundering and KYC (Know Your Client) rules can be met. We also offer a unique option for Swiss investors as they benefit from no VAT on white metals when purchased and stored with us in Switzerland. And we offer unique, specialized services for Institutional clients.

In general, we accept clients from all over the world. BFI Bullion carefully examines every client application assuring that the necessary due diligence is done to comply with Swiss law and to fulfill our own high ethical criteria.

Which product you purchase depends largely on your personal preferences. Bars come with lower premiums, and thus can be purchased “cheaper” per ounce than intricately detailed coins. However, coins can afford you more flexibility when liquidating vs. a large bar or can used more easily in the ultimate fiat currency crisis. Your investment goals and the reasons for purchasing metals should be reviewed. If you are looking for guidance on which product(s) are right for you, please feel free to call/email us with your questions. Or, have a look at a blog post we wrote on the subject.

We work with a select network of partners, including refineries and metals providers. The status and business volume we generate with these partners regularly ensures that we are able to find a buyer promptly.

Under normal conditions, it can take between a couple of days to 2 weeks after purchase for delivery and final storage under the custody of BFI Bullion. If there is a scarcity in the market, delays can occur. The client will always be informed if any longer delays are expected.

No, VAT is not applicable for metals purchased and/or stored within our storage facilities. However, if the metals leave the physical storage facility of BFI Bullion, the VAT regime of the destination country would be due.

No. We only accept bank wires for purchases at this time. Trades can be executed in CHF, USD, EUR, and GBP. The annual storage fees can be paid via credit card or bank wire in the same currencies.

For coins, the reason is the packaging – it is important that they are properly packed and protected e.g., against scratches. For example, you can buy gold coins in lot sizes of 10, e.g., 10, 20, 50, etc. Alternatively, for bars, after having initially purchased the minimum lot size (e.g., the lot size for 100g gold bars is 4), you may buy singular bars additionally as part of that order.

Yes, the initial investment is CHF 50’000 (or equivalent in USD, EUR, or GBP). Thereafter, an investment of at least a particular metal’s format lot size is required.

BFI Bullion only trades during our usual business hours from 8am – 5pm (Swiss time). If we receive a trade outside of those hours, we execute it the following morning.

Since BFI Bullion is purchasing only allocated metals, there will always be a cash residual after purchase. Any cash residual to come from a transaction will be wired back to your “Client Reference Account” on file immediately after the trade has been executed.

Once we have your Buy Order and funds, the price is fixed at the time we execute the trade. All trades are done during our usual business hours. Limit orders with a minimum value of CHF 250’000 can be placed where a maximum price can be set by you. Pricing (updated every 30 seconds) can be found on the “Products” page of our website or in the Client Login Portal. These prices are not binding but are only indicative of the current pricing based on the terms mentioned on the Products page of the website.

With a purchase, the price is calculated by using the spot price, plus the premium on the particular metal/format, and the BFI Bullion brokerage fee. If you sell your metals, the price is normally slightly above, at, or slightly below spot plus the BFI Bullion brokerage fee. Actual pricing is determined at the point of the trade.

Not all the products we offer may be available for direct purchase at our other storage locations outside of Switzerland. The main reason for this is that we only offer the most liquid products in each storage location. However, as a client of BFI Bullion, we can also ship your current holdings at any time to any of the other storage facilities we use.

We offer only bullion products (no semi-numismatic or numismatic products), a list of which can be found here www.bficapital.com/precious-metals/services/products. If you are interested in a product that is not on our list, please do not hesitate to ask us, as sometimes we are able to source other bullion products. We do have contacts within our network that can help set up IRA structures which legally and compliantly accommodate physical precious metals stored in Switzerland. If you want us to connect you to them, please contact us directly.

BFI Bullion purchases its precious metals directly from a specially select group of refineries, mints, and reputable wholesalers (for example, the Austrian Mint, Valcambi, and Argor-Heraeus). The actual provider used depends on where we can get the best pricing from at the time we are executing your trade.

As you have direct, allocated ownership of your metals, your metals are not part of our balance sheet. As such, if BFI Bullion were to go bankrupt, the creditors will not be able to put a claim on your metals. Since we do not pre-finance any purchases, nor do we hedge, pledge or speculate with your metals, our business model largely eliminates business risks.

While it is true our clients live in different time zones across the world, BFI Bullion takes a great deal of pride in providing superior client service. Clients can reach us via phone or video call during our usual business hours and can email or write to us over our secure Client Login Portal at any time. You will communicate with real team members and not receive the often repetitive, annoying automated and computer-generated correspondence. We are dedicated to helping our clients; we do our best to make sure 5,000 kilometers feels more like 5.

BFI Bullion is a 100% Swiss company operating under Swiss law and jurisdiction. The benefits are many, but we believe the highest benefit is our federalist and democratic system; it ensures that the Swiss people still have a say in and keep a key check over what the government can do. The Swiss highly treasure and respect the individual’s property rights.

Yes. Being a subsidiary of the BFI Capital Group, we also regularly contribute to the Group’s blog, www.bficapital.com/groupblog. Subscribers benefit from not only what we write, but to the contributions regarding asset protection, wealth protection, international investing, etc. offered by the different companies in the Group. Furthermore, we also have our Quarterly “Digger” newsletter, with important topics regarding not only precious metals, but other items that impact our clients, as well as service updates.

BFI Bullion is a subsidiary of the BFI Capital Group, an internationally recognized wealth management firm founded in 1993. BFI Bullion is its own company, in business since 2009, but clients can benefit from the knowledge, services offered, and network behind the entire BFI Capital Group.

Contrary to other precious metals programs where the terms of the ownership can be vague or unclear, with BFI Bullion, a 100% Swiss company complying with Swiss law and regulations, you own your precious metals fully and directly. We do not hedge, pledge, loan or lease your metals. BFI Bullion’s services and storage facilities are located “outside” of the banking system, meaning that we are not dependent on functioning stock markets or banks. And if you need access to your metals – to sell, pick-up, or even take delivery of – they are immediately available.

We offer three types storage services: Collective Storage (COL), Segregated Storage (SEG) and Key Box Storage (KBS). With Collective storage, your metals are held collectively with other clients’ metals of the same type and format. Collective storage is our least expensive and most popular option. In Segregated storage, your metals are held physically separate from the holdings of any other BFI Bullion clients. Storage fees are higher than with the COL option. Key Box Storage has you purchasing your own Key Box, with lock and keys. The storage fees are the same as with SEG storage. With KBS, only you have access to your metals. Thus, withdrawing or selling metals from your personal box will require you to be present personally, or to give powers to a third party for access to the box. Under the COL and SEG storage, BFI Bullion can sell your metals based on your instructions at any time.

No. All metals stored with us are directly owned by you: You have unencumbered ownership irrespective of which storage type you select. The metals are always stored one-to-one in the format purchased by you.

No. We do not and cannot lease, pledge, or otherwise use the metals you entrust us with. Our Storage Contract was carefully crafted provides assurance that all our clients' metals are in storage 100% of the time. We conduct monthly internal audits of the vaults, and all our vaults are audited annually by one of the Big-4 auditing firms. A summary of the Audit Report is available upon request.

No. We only offer fully allocated storage.

The storage fees are paid annually in arrears. We contact you at the beginning of each year and invoice you for our storage service during the prior fiscal year. Your storage invoice is uploaded to your password-protected Client Login Portal. Once you log in, you can pay the storage fees directly online via credit card or find the bank details to make a bank-to-bank wire transfer to settle the storage invoice.

Yes, so called 'In-Kind Transfers' are possible. If the minimum value of the metals moved is CHF 250'000 (or equivalent) we are happy to arrange that. Because Swiss regulations dictate that such a transaction could create certain risks, we require additional information from you that will allow us to conduct this transaction, and the metals are likely to need assaying in order to be allowed into the BFI Bullion storage facilities. We will guide you through the process. At the moment, we only conduct the complete in-kind process in Switzerland. If you chose to store in any of our non-Swiss storage facilities, we would transfer the metals after assaying and acceptance with additional delivery fees to the final storage destination.

Yes, generally you can ship anywhere in the world. However, there might be some different rules or restrictions depending on the country. Don't hesitate to contact us for a specific quote!

Yes, we offer a unique deposit box service that we call Key Box Storage (KBS). Contrary to other services, you purchase your own box, which can be visited like a deposit box, or which can be delivered to the destination of your choice, thus offering far more flexibility. You may transfer your existing metals into your Key Box for storage, including numismatic or semi-numismatic coins. Your Key Box comes with a lock and two keys that only you are given; access to the Key Box is restricted to you exclusively. The minimum aggregate amount of metals required to take advantage of this exclusive service is CHF 250’000. One Key Box can hold up to 30 kg, or approximately 60 pounds, of metals.

Yes, it is possible to go directly to our storage facilities to pick up your metals. We’ve also had metals delivered to our office and have our clients pick them up there. Again, because of your unencumbered ownership of your metals, we generally only need 48 hours to arrange the pick-up with our storage providers.

Yes, your metals are fully insured against fire, water, fraud, theft and burglary. The storage fees you pay annually cover the costs for the insurance.

We work with international clients and keeping up on the reporting requirements for all of them is quite difficult. We have a limited knowledge of the FBAR, or FiNCEN form 114, but know there are reasons as to why or why not a US person should report BFI Bullion holdings. We recommend contacting a US tax expert for a qualified, final answer.

Yes, that is possible. You can change the location of your storage within the storage locations we offer. The price for having the metals shipped depends on the quantity and on the location. Please contact us to find out more about the costs involved.

The list of storage fees for our different storage options can be found under the Storage page of our services. The storage fees are paid annually in arrears, and the fees charged vary depending on the value of your holdings. The storage fee calculations are based on the average daily spot price of the storage period (January 1st to December 31st, pro-rated if the services were used only part of the year).

Yes. A visit to the storage facility can be arranged. BFI Bullion will need at least a 48-hours’ notice to organize. Because of the strict security procedures, there are fees for the visit.