Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department
Registration for Dealers in Precious Metals and Stones

Dealer in precious metals and stones

Any person carries on any of the following activities by way of business —
a) trading in (including purchasing and selling), exporting or importing precious metals, precious stones or precious products;
b) manufacturing, refining or carrying out any value adding work on precious metals, precious stones or precious products;
c) issuing, redeeming or trading in precious-asset backed instruments; or
acting as an intermediary in respect of any of the activities a, b or c;
Except the person carries on a logistics service business, only imports or exports precious metals, precious stones or precious products in the ordinary course of that business.

Articles covered in the regulatory regime

There are four types of articles:
a) Precious metal: gold, silver, platinum, iridium, osmium, palladium, rhodium or ruthenium, in a manufactured or unmanufactured state;
b) Precious stone: diamond, sapphire, ruby, emerald, jade or pearl, whether natural or otherwise;
c) Precious product: any jewellery and watch that is made up of, containing or having attached to it, any precious metal or precious stone, or both;
d) Precious-asset-backed instrument: means any certificate or instrument backed by one or more precious metals, precious stones or precious products that entitles the holder to such assets (in entirety or in part);
but does not include—
d1) any securities, a futures contract, any interest in a collective investment scheme, a structured product or an OTC derivative product as defined by the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap 571); or
d2) a virtual asset.

Two categories of registration

Any person who is seeking to carry on a business of dealing in precious metals and stones in Hong Kong and engage in any transaction(s) (whether making or receiving a payment) with total value at or above HKD120,000* in Hong Kong is required to register with the Commissioner of Customs and Excise.

There are two categories under the registration regime as follows:

Category A ) Any dealer who intends to engage in non-cash transaction(s) with total value at or above HKD120,000 in the course of business is required to register as a Category A registrant.

Category B ) Any dealer who is seeking to engage in cash transactions with total value at or above HKD120,000 and non-cash transactions with total value at or above HKD120,000 in the course of business is required to register as a Category B registrant. A Category B registrant is subject to AML/CTF supervision.

*The HKD120,000 threshold includes an equivalent amount in another currency

Penalty

Any person, other than a registrant, carries out a specified transaction or a specified cash transaction, claims to be authorized to carry out a specified transaction or a specified cash transaction, or claims to be a registrant, is liable on conviction to a maximum fine of HK$100,000 and imprisonment for six months.


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