Singapore gold storage offered to risk-adverse rich

Switzerland's Palaedino Group and Euroasia Investment unveiled plans on Thursday to store and manage gold in Singapore. The service will be provided  for ultra-wealthy clients who have lost confidence in banks and paper money.

Their venture, Swiss Precious Metals, will store gold in the the high-security Singapore FreePort facility and launch the SPM Gold Index to assess the value of the metal against a basket of currencies.

Leonardo Castellana, president of Palaedino, said the 2008 financial crisis sparked demand for super-secure assets held outside of the banking system.

Worries about inflation, stoked by expansionary monetary and fiscal policies, have spread mistrust of paper currency among the wealthy, he told a news conference in Geneva, a leading hub of commodity trading.

"This double systematic and monetary risk spurred us to create solutions for our clients," Castellana said.

"It is one of the safest places in the world," Yves Bouvier, president of Euroasia Investment, said of the Singapore FreePort facility, 30,000 square metres spread over three floors.