Argor-Heraeus welcomes the Swiss Federal Supreme Court’s decision

Bern, [November 15, 2023] – Today, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court confirmed the verdict of March 16, 2022, on transparency in the Swiss gold industry. Accordingly, tax secrecy will continue to protect confidential information about business partners of refineries based in Switzerland. Argor-Heraeus welcomes the decision of the Federal Supreme Court.

In February 2018, a non-governmental organization filed a request aimed at disclosing complete gold import statistics to certain Swiss importing companies. This would have included the publication of confidential customer data from Swiss gold refineries, including imported quantities. The Federal Administrative Court rejected this request with its decision of March 16, 2022 – a decision that has now been confirmed by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court.

Customer data must remain confidential

Robin Kolvenbach, Co-CEO of Argor-Heraeus SA, emphasizes: “Argor-Heraeus stands for transparency and openness. We maintain our commitment to our customers and our legitimate competitive interests. Our commitment to a responsible gold supply chain is a non-negotiable core value for us. Argor-Heraeus meets this demand with extensive and strict processes, including an effective and comprehensive Compliance Management System.”

Already today, Argor-Heraeus reports all relevant details of its incoming supplies to the responsible authorities and standard setters.

Argor-Heraeus works responsibly

Numerous established codes of conduct, certification processes, supervising authorities, and specific provisions for precious metal trading take comprehensive environmental, social, ethical, and human rights aspects into account. Robin Kolvenbach: “In order for Argor-Heraeus to process only gold from ethically and ecologically responsible sources, our customers must meet high environmental and social standards and undergo our continuous audits.”

Argor-Heraeus engages in the international development of standards

In addition to existing and legally binding regulations, Argor-Heraeus advocates with governments, international organizations, and industry associations for consistent and global development and implementation of strict standards within the precious metal value chains and engages in the context of various initiatives.

Argor-Heraeus will continue its efforts in further developing international standards, rules, certifications, and innovations, and will continue to support related developments to improve the precious metals industry’s processes.

The pdf of the press release in English and German can be found here.

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Contact:

Tore Prang

Head of Communications and Marketing

Heraeus Group

Tel. +49 61 81 35 51 00

Mobil +49 17 61 78 42 16 5