Collection of gold traders data secure: authorities

Earlier this week HCMC authorities said they have formed a task force to inspect gold stores and jewelry manufacturers, and collect and analyze information about buyers and sellers.

Senior Lieutenant Colonel Le Manh Ha, deputy head of staff at the HCMC Police Department, said at a press conference Thursday afternoon that the purpose of the task force is to prevent speculation by monitoring the market and not to inconvenience the public.

Under the Anti-Money Laundering Law, it is legal to collect information about large and suspicious transactions carried out by traders, he said. The data is always kept confidential and used in compliance with the law, he added.

Since the beginning of June the central bank has been selling gold bullion through the Saigon Jewelry Company and the four state-owned lenders, Vietcombank, BIDV, VietinBank, and Agribank, to stabilize the precious metal’s prices.

Last month it announced there would be further measures to address speculation and gold hoarding. Since then Vietcombank and BIDV have required buyers to open an account and deposit enough money to cover their gold purchase.

In the first seven months of this year HCMC seized nearly 1,600 gold and jewelry items worth VND14.2 billion (US$563,000) involved in 200 cases of violations, mostly stores selling without certificates of origin or fake gold.