The gold holdings of the exchange-traded Xetra-Gold bearer bond (ISIN: DE000A0S9GB0) have exceeded the 200-ton mark for the first time. 200.076 tonnes of gold are currently held in the German central vault for securities. This is an increase of just under 19 tonnes since the beginning of the year. Xetra-Gold is thus the leading European gold security with which the precious metal is also physically deposited.

Gold holdings increase when investors buy Xetra-Gold shares via the stock exchange. For each unit certificate, exactly one gram of gold is deposited. The assets managed by Xetra-Gold currently amount to 8.5 billion euros.

"The continuing demand for gold is coming both from institutional and private investors. More and more asset managers and family offices are also using gold to hedge their portfolios," says Michael König, Managing Director of Deutsche Börse Commodities GmbH, the issuer of Xetra-Gold. "In recent years, gold has developed into an independent asset class. Due to the current rise in the stock markets, they are now also increasing their gold investments in their portfolios," König continued.

Xetra-Gold investors are entitled to delivery of the securitised physical gold. Since the introduction of Xetra-Gold in 2007, investors have made use of this 1.053 times. A total of 5.1 tons of gold have been delivered.

In September 2015, the Federal Fiscal Court announced that gains from the sale or redemption of Xetra-Gold after a minimum holding period of one year would not be subject to withholding tax. The purchase and redemption or sale are thus to be assessed for tax purposes as a direct purchase and sale of physical gold - i.e. as gold bars or gold coins, for example.

Xetra-Gold is issued by Deutsche Börse Commodities GmbH, a joint venture of Deutsche Börse and the banking partners Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, DZ Bank, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. and the Swiss bank Vontobel. The gold producer Umicore is also involved.

About Xetra-Gold

Xetra-Gold® (ISIN: DE000A0S9GB0) is a bearer bond issued by Deutsche Börse Commodities GmbH, 100 percent backed by gold, which securitizes a delivery claim to physical gold. Each individual Xetra-Gold® note grants the investor the right to require the issuer to deliver one gram of gold. For Xetra-Gold® notes, the Issuer maintains a corresponding amount of gold in physical form and, to a limited extent, in the form of book gold claims. In the form of a security, Xetra-Gold® is fungible and as easily transferable as a share. In addition to Germany, Xetra-Gold® is authorized for public distribution in Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The complete and legally binding information on the Xetra-Gold® bearer bonds can be found in the key information document and the prospectus together with any supplements and the terms and conditions of issue. Investors can obtain these documents free of charge from Deutsche Börse Commodities GmbH, Mergenthalerallee 61, 65760 Eschborn, Germany, or download them from www.xetra-gold.com/downloads.

About Deutsche Börse Commodities GmbH

The Xetra-Gold® Issuer Deutsche Börse Commodities GmbH with its registered office in Eschborn is a joint venture of B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. KGaA, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, Deutsche Bank AG, Deutsche Börse AG, DZ Bank AG Deutsche Zentral-Genossenschaftsbank, Frankfurt am Main, Umicore AG & Co. KG and Vontobel Beteiligungen AG. Umicore AG & Co. KG is a subsidiary of Umicore S.A., which operates several gold refineries worldwide and produces gold bars. The issuer's sole business purpose is to provide the market with the 100 percent gold backed Xetra-Gold® bond and to enable efficient, transparent and cost-effective trading of this physical form of gold securitisation.