Terms of Use and Privacy Statement

Sections of this Document:

The SPDR® Gold Shares website and all its microsites (collectively called"this Website") is operated and published by the World Gold Trust Services LLC, 685 Third Avenue, Suite 2702, New York, New York 10017, United States ("WGTS" or the "Sponsor"). Your use of this Website or any of its sections or pages is governed by the terms and conditions on this Website.

WGTS reserves the right, without notice, to change or modify any of the terms and conditions on this Website in any manner and at any time. You are responsible for regularly reviewing all such terms and conditions.

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Use of this website

This Website is for investors in Hong Kong only and the information and materials on this Website are provided for general informational and educational purposes. You are permitted to save, display or print out information contained on this Website only for your personal, non-commercial use. Except as otherwise permitted by these terms and conditions, you are not permitted to modify, copy, distribute, transmit, display, reproduce, publish, license, frame, link, create derivative works from, transfer or otherwise use in any manner, in whole or in part, this Website or the information and materials on this Website without the prior written authorization of WGTS and with suitable accreditation to WGTS. To request such authorization, please contact us at [email protected].

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Important Legal Information and Risk Statement

Due to the risk that the Internet may be subject to interruption, transmission blackout, delayed transmission due to internet traffic, or incorrect data transmission due to public nature of the internet, the information contained in this Website may be incomplete, altered or tampered with, and may not present complete and accurate information. None of the World Gold Trust Services LLC, State Street Global Advisors Asia Limited ("SSgA") or any of their affiliates shall be liable for losses of any kind suffered or incurred as a result of the reliance on the information contained in this Website.

This Website is for information purposes only and does not have any regard to any investor's specific investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs. Nothing contained in this Website constitutes or should be construed as an invitation or offer to acquire, purchase or subscribe for, or to sell, any gold securities or other financial instruments or to provide any investment advice, recommendations or other financial services of any kind.

The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited ("SEHK"), Hong Kong Securities Clearing Company Limited and the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission take no responsibility for the contents of this Website, make no representation as to its accuracy or completeness and expressly disclaim any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from or in reliance upon the whole or any part of the contents of this Website.

The Hong Kong prospectus in respect of the offer of the shares (the "Shares") in the SPDR® Gold Trust (the "Trust") is available and may be obtained upon request from State Street Global Advisors Asia Limited, the Hong Kong representative of the Trust. Investors should be aware that the Trust is different from a typical unit trust. Investors should read the Hong Kong prospectus of the Trust before deciding whether to purchase Shares. The value of Shares may fall as well as rise. Shares in the Trust are not obligations of, deposits in, or guaranteed by, the Sponsor, SSgA or any of their affiliates. An investment in Shares is subject to investment risks, including the possible loss of the principal amount invested. Past performance figures of the Trust or of the gold market are not necessarily indicative of the future performance of the Trust. The value of Shares relate directly to the value of the gold held by the Trust and fluctuations in the price of gold could materially adversely affect an investment in the Shares. In particular, crises may motivate large-scale sales of gold which could decrease the price of gold and substantial sales of gold by the official sector could adversely affect an investment in the Shares. You may wish to seek advice from a financial adviser before making a commitment to purchase Shares. In the event that you choose not to seek advice from a financial adviser, you should consider whether the Trust is suitable for you.

The Shares will be listed, and investors may trade their Shares, on the SEHK. Listing of the Shares on the SEHK does not guarantee a liquid market for the Shares and the Shares may be delisted. The Shares may trade on the SEHK at a price which is at, above or below the net asset value per Share. Only authorized participants may subscribe or redeem Shares directly from the Trust in substantial sizes.

The information in this Website is directed at, and is intended for distribution to, and use by, persons in Hong Kong only. It is not intended for distribution to, or use by, any person in any other jurisdiction. Access to the information contained in this Website may be restricted by laws or regulations applicable to you. None of the services or investments referred to in this Website are available, and prospectuses in respect of them will not be distributed to persons resident in any state or territory where such distribution would be contrary to local law or regulation. It is your responsibility as the user to be informed of and to observe all applicable laws and regulations of any relevant jurisdiction.

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Proprietary rights (copyright)

This Website and all information and materials on this Website are protected by international copyright and trademark laws and other intellectual property laws, and any unauthorized use of any information and materials on this Website may violate such laws. All information and materials on this Website are owned or controlled by WGTS or the State Street group of companies ("State Street"), as the case may be, or are used by WGTS or State Street with the permission of the third party owner or provider of such information or materials. These terms and conditions are not intended to, and do not, transfer or grant any rights in or to this Website or the information and materials on this Website other than those which are specifically described in these terms and conditions, and all rights not expressly granted in these terms and conditions are reserved by WGTS or State Street, or by the third party owners or providers from whom WGTS or State Street have obtained information and materials on this Website. World Gold Trust Services LLC and State Street and all their associated companies together with their logos, trademarks and graphics (including symbols and artwork) and the trade address of this Website are all trade names, trademarks or service marks of WGTS or State Street and may not be used without their permission. In no event may trademarks, service marks or other proprietary elements on this Website owned by WGTS or State Street be reproduced separately from the textual content associated with them. In addition, you are not permitted to alter, obscure or remove any copyright, trademark or other notice on this Website or in the information and materials on this Website. The name of other actual companies and third party products or services identified on this Website may be the trade names, trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.

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Changes to this website

WGTS reserves the right, without notice, (i) to change, add, modify or remove any information and materials on this Website in any manner and at any time, and (ii) to suspend, limit, restrict and/or deny access to any aspect or part of this Website at any time for any reason, including, without limitation, for any scheduled or unscheduled maintenance, upgrades, improvements or corrections. Neither WGTS, State Street, nor any of their third party providers shall have any duty or responsibility (i) to maintain, update, correct or remove any information and materials on this Website for any reason or (ii) to advise or identify any information and materials on this Website which may be outdated, incomplete, inaccurate or erroneous.

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Security

Whilst every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that the content of this Website is secure, neither WGTS nor State Street make any representation or warranty, express or implied, concerning the security of this Website, including, without limitation, with respect to the ability of unauthorized persons to access, intercept or use information or materials transmitted by you to this Website or from this Website to you. None of WGTS, State Street, nor any of their subsidiaries or affiliates nor any director, officer or employee of the foregoing shall be liable or have any responsibility for any loss, liability or damage that you may incur from any third party access, interception or use of any information, materials or services on or accessible through this Website or any tampering with your computer system done by unauthorized parties.

 

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Accuracy of information

Although the information and materials on this Website were obtained or compiled from sources WGTS and State Street believe to be reliable, neither WGTS nor State Street make any express or implied representation, warranty or guarantee as to the accuracy, validity, reliability, timeliness or completeness of any such information or materials in general or in connection with any particular use or purpose. Neither WGTS nor State Street represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any third party advice, opinion, statement, information or materials on (including links from) or accessible through this Website.

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Investment advice - no offer or recommendation

This Website and the information and materials on this Website do not, and shall not be construed as, making any recommendation or providing any investment or other advice with respect to the purchase, sale or other disposition of any regulated gold related products or any other regulated products, securities or investments, including, without limitation, any advice to the effect that any gold related transaction is appropriate or suitable for any investment objective or financial situation of a prospective investor.

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Local legal restrictions

The information and materials on this Website are not directed to and may not be used by any person or entity in any jurisdiction where the direction or use of such information and materials is prohibited or would be contrary to applicable laws, rules or regulations of any governmental authority or regulatory organization.

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Third party links

This Website may contain links to websites owned, sponsored or maintained by third parties, including, without limitation, links to members, affiliates, or subsidiaries of either WGTS or State Street. These links are provided only as a convenience to you. The inclusion of any link on this Website to a third party website is not and does not imply any affiliation, sponsorship, endorsement, approval, investigation, verification or authorization by WGTS or State Street of such third party website or the information or materials on such third party website. Neither WGTS nor State Street make any representations, warranties or guarantees with respect to, and is not responsible for, any third party website or the information and materials on such third party website or your use of or inability to use such third party website. You should also be aware that the terms and conditions of use for any third party website and such website's privacy policies may be different from those applicable to your use of this Website.

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Privacy

WGTS and State Street recognize the importance of protecting the privacy of all information provided by visitors of this Website. We have created the following policy guidelines with a fundamental respect for our visitors' right to privacy to guide our relationships with our visitors.

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Information Collected by World Gold Trust Services

WGTS and State Street may collect information about visitors during their use of this Website through the use of cookies. When visitors request pages from our server, our Web server automatically collects some information about the visitors, including their IP addresses. These addresses are used by computers on the network to send the requested pages to visitors.

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Use of Information

WGTS and State Street will not reveal any personal information that visitors provide to them to any third party without their permission. WGTS and State Street use visitors' IP addresses to help diagnose problems with our server and to administer the Website. We also use it to gather broad demographic information about our visitors in general. This information does not contain anything that can identify visitors personally. We may combine demographic information supplied by a subscriber at registration with site usage data to provide profiles, in aggregate form, about our visitors and their preferences in the content of the site and advertising. We may share this composite information with our advertisers to help them better understand our services, but neither WGTS nor State Street give advertisers information about individual visitors. Using e-mail addresses provided at registration or otherwise, WGTS and State Street periodically send out e-mail newsletters and promotional e-mail to our visitors about services and publications offered by this Website and its advertisers. Visitors can indicate that they do not wish to receive e-mail information from WGTS, State Street, or their advertisers. Third parties will not contact our visitors through the use of our e-mail newsletter lists except through advertisements within the newsletters themselves, or unless visitors ask to be placed on a list to receive e-mail from our advertisers on subjects of interest. This Website uses cookies to deliver content specific to visitors' interests and to honour their preferences. This information is used to assist us in creating a site that will serve the needs of our visitors. Upon request, WGTS and State Street will remove visitors (and their information) from their database or permit them to "opt-out" of any further e-mail newsletters or contact. Although WGTS and State Street do not specifically seek to obtain any information from children, there are certain areas of our website that children may visit. We urge children only to give us any information after they have discussed it with their parents. WGTS and State Street are not responsible for the content or the privacy polices of websites to which it may provide links or the websites of its advertisers. WGTS and State Street uses all reasonable precautions to keep the personal information disclosed to us secure and to disclose such information only to responsible third parties after permission from the visitor.

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Governing law

This Website is governed by and shall be construed in accordance with United States of America law and any dispute as to its terms shall be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of United States of America. If you have any questions about this privacy statement or the practices of this Website you can contact us at [email protected].

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Information for non-Hong Kong investors

The products and services described on this Website are intended to be made available to persons in Hong Kong, and the information on this Website is only for such persons. Nothing on this Website shall be considered a solicitation to buy or an offer to sell a security to any person in any jurisdiction where such an offer, solicitation, purchase, or sale would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.

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No Reliance

Information contained in the Website is checked and updated by [WGTS] with due diligence on a regular basis. However, data on the website may become outdated. Therefore, neither [WGTS] nor any affiliates of [WGTS] (collectively hereinafter referred to as"Affiliates") assume any liability or guarantee for the timeliness, accuracy, and completeness of the information provided. [WGTS] uses reasonable efforts to obtain information from sources that it believes to be reliable; however, [WGTS] and its Affiliates makes no representation that the information or opinions contained on this Website is accurate, reliable, or complete. The information on this Website is provided for information purposes only and is subject to change without notice. The investments and strategies discussed in the contents may not be suitable for all investors and are not obligations of [WGTS] or guaranteed by [WGTS] or its Affiliates. The investments are not bank deposits and are not insured by the FDIC, CIFP, CDIC, or any other entity and are subject to investment risks, including the loss of the principal amount invested. Nothing contained on the website constitutes investment, legal, tax, or other advice nor is to be relied on in making an investment or other decision. You should obtain relevant and specific professional advice before making any investment decision.

 

SPDR® trademark

"SPDR®" is a trademark of Standard & Poor's Financial Services, LLC ("S&P") and has been licensed for use by the Sponsor. The "SPDR®" trademark is used under license from S&P and the SPDR® Gold Trust is permitted to use the "SPDR®" trademark pursuant to a sublicense from the Marketing Agent. No financial product offered by SPDR® Gold Trust, or its affiliates, is sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by S&P. S&P makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of any financial product or any member of the public regarding the advisability of investing in securities generally or in financial products particularly or the ability of the index on which financial products are based to track general stock market performance. S&P is not responsible for and has not participated in any determination or calculation made with respect to issuance or redemption of financial products. S&P has no obligation or liability in connection with the administration, marketing or trading of financial products.

WITHOUT LIMITING ANY OF THE FOREGOING IN NO EVENT SHALL S&P HAVE ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOST PROFITS), EVEN IF NOTIFIED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

 

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Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

The information on this website includes "forward-looking statements" which generally relate to future events or future performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. All statements (other than statements of historical fact) included on this website that address activities, events or developments that will or may occur in the future, including such matters as changes in commodity prices and market conditions (for gold and the Shares), the Trust's operations, the Sponsor's plans and references to the Trust's future success and other similar matters are forward-looking statements. These statements are only predictions. Actual events or results may differ materially. These statements are based upon certain assumptions and analyses the Sponsor made based on its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors believed appropriate in the circumstances. Whether or not actual results and developments will conform to the Sponsor's expectations and predictions, however, is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to:

  • fluctuations in the price of gold;
  • reductions in the amount of gold represented by each Share due to the payment of Trust’s expenses;
  • the effect of the Trust as a passive investment vehicle;
  • the effect on the value of the Shares if the Trust’s gold is sold to pay expenses at a time of low gold prices;
  • purchasing activity in the gold market associated with the purchase of Baskets from the Trust;
  • the lack of protections associated with ownership of shares in an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 or the protections afforded by the Commodity Exchange Act of 1936;
  • the termination or liquidation of the Trust at a time that is disadvantageous to Shareholders;
  • the withdrawal of Authorized Participants;
  • the lack of a an active trading market for the Shares or a halt in the trading of the Shares;
  • the impact of the sale of gold by ETFs or other exchange traded vehicles on the price of gold;
  • the postponement, suspension or rejection by the Trustee of redemption orders under certain circumstances;
  • competition from other methods of investing in gold;
  • the impact of large-scale distress sales of gold in times of crisis;
  • the impact of substantial sales of gold by the official sector;
  • the effect of a widening of interest rate differentials between the cost of money and the cost of gold;
  • the loss, damage, theft or restrictions on access to the Trust’s gold;
  • the lack of adequate sources of recovery if the Trust’s gold is lost, damaged, stolen or destroyed, including a lack of insurance;
  • the failure of gold bullion allocated to the Trust to meet the London Good Delivery Standards;
  • the failure of subcustodians to exercise due care in the safekeeping of the Trust’s gold;
  • the limited ability of the Trustee and the Custodian to take legal action against subcustodians;
  • the insolvency of the Custodian;
  • the lack of specific governmental regulatory supervision of the gold bullion custody operations of the Custodian;
  • the reliance by the Trustee on certain information received from the Custodian in issuing Baskets;
  • the Trust’s obligation to reimburse the Marketing Agent and the Authorized Participants for certain liabilities in the event the Sponsor fails to indemnify them; and
  • other factors identified in the "Risk Factors" section of the Prospectus filed with the SEC and in other filings made by the Trust from time to time with the SEC.

Consequently, all the forward-looking statements made on this website are qualified by these cautionary statements, and there can be no assurance that the actual results or developments the Sponsor or Marketing Agent anticipates will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will result in the expected consequences to, or have the expected effects on, the Trust's operations or the value of the Shares. Neither the Sponsor, Marketing Agent nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the forward-looking statements. Neither the Trust, Marketing Agent nor the Sponsor is under a duty to update any of the forward-looking statements to conform such statements to actual results or to reflect a change in the Sponsor's or Marketing Agent's expectations or predictions.

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Copyright © 2008, World Gold Trust Services LLC.