FWP
Filed Pursuant To Rule 433
Registration No. 333-151056
July 14, 2008
Frequently Asked Questions
1. CAN YOU TAKE PHYSICAL POSSESSION OF THE GOLD?
The Trustee, Bank of New York, does not deal directly with the public. The trust handles creation
and redemption orders for the shares with Authorized Participants, who deal in blocks of 100,000
shares. An individual investor wishing to exchange shares for physical gold would have to come to
the appropriate arrangements with his or her broker.
2. IS THE GOLD INSURED?
The Custodian, HSBC Bank USA, will maintain such insurance for its business, including its bullion
and custody business, as it deems appropriate. The Trustee and the Sponsor, WGTS, may review this
insurance coverage periodically and upon notice, subject to confidentiality restrictions.
The Custodian is responsible for the safekeeping of the gold held on behalf of the Trust in
accordance with the terms of the Allocated Bullion Account Agreement and is required to exercise
reasonable care in the performance of its obligations. The Custodian is responsible for loss or
damage suffered by the Trust as a direct result of any negligence, fraud, or willful default in the
performance of its duties. The Custodians liability is only for the market value of the gold held
in the Trust Allocated Account or Trust Unallocated Account, respectively, at the time such
negligence, fraud or willful default is discovered by the Custodian, provided that the Custodian
notifies the Trustee promptly of its discovery.
3. WHERE IS THE GOLD HELD? IS IT SAFE?
The gold that underlies Gold Shares is held in the form of allocated 400 oz. London Good Delivery
Bars in the London vaults of HSBC Bank USA. The safekeeping methods are essentially no different
from those that have operated without a problem in the London market for centuries. Those
safeguards have stood the test of time for both individuals and institutions (including many
governments) that store their gold in London vaults. We have tremendous confidence in the
Custodians efforts to ensure the safety of the Trusts gold bullion.
4. WHAT HAPPENS TO THE GOLD IF THERE IS A TERRORIST ATTACK AND IT IS STOLEN OR DAMAGED?
Though damage or loss as a result of such events is unlikely, should the gold be destroyed or
damaged in a terrorist attack, the Custodian is not liable for any delay in performance or
non-performance of any of its obligations under the Custody Agreements. See Force Majeure section
of the prospectus. Should the gold in the Trust Allocated Account or Trust Unallocated Account be
stolen or damaged, the Custodian would only be liable for the market value of the gold held in the
Trust Allocated Account or Trust Unallocated Account if it were determined that such loss or damage
were the result of negligence, fraud or willful default. These are the legal considerations
governing the operations of the Custodian. Actual experience in the aftermath of the terrorist
attack that destroyed the World Trade Center in New York was that there was effectively no
disruption to the operations of a custodian whose vault was unavailable for months, until it was
eventually recovered undamaged. The Custodian was able to carry on more or less normal operations
by using gold deposited at other locations, or by borrowing gold in the market, and did not have to
default on a single transaction.
5. HOW IS GLD TREATED FROM A TAX STANDPOINT?
The United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) treats gold as a collectible for long-term capital
gains tax purposes. As such, gains recognized by individuals from the sale of SPDR® Gold
Shares are subject to a capital gains rate of 28% if held for more than one year. This rule extends
to all gold held by the Trust. Although there are some restrictions applicable to retirement plans
such as IRAs and 401ks investing in collectibles, SPDR Gold received a private letter ruling
permitting investment by such retirement plans.
6. WHERE DO YOU GET THE SPOT PRICE FOR GOLD? HOW DOES IT RELATE TO THE LONDON AM/PM FIX?
What is the difference between the London Fix and COMEX?
The spot price for gold is determined by market forces in the 24-hour global over-the-counter (OTC)
market for gold. The OTC market accounts for most global gold trading, and prices quoted reflect
the information available to the market at any given time. The spot price can be found on:
www.thebulliondesk.com.
The London Bullion Market Association has about 60 full members, as well as a lot of associates.
The London Fix is set by five of those member firms and is based upon actual buy and sell orders
for gold in the global OTC market. A good analogy for the London Fix versus OTC trading would be to
consider the London Fixes similar to opening/closing prices for stocks and to consider the spot
price for gold as the continuous market price throughout the trading day.
The COMEX division of the New York Merantile Exchange is a derivatives exchange that acts as a
marketplace to trade futures and options contracts on metals, including gold. Typically, gold
futures contracts trade at a premium to the spot price. Further discussion can be found in the
prospectus.
7. HOW DO I FIND THE INTRA-DAY NAV OF GLD?
The indicative intra-day NAV of GLD can be found at www.spdrgoldshares.com.
The indicative intra-day value is calculated on the mid point of the bid/offer gold spot price.
8. |
|
HOW OFTEN IS THE TRUST AUDITED, AND DO THE AUDITORS HAVE ACCESS TO THE VAULT TO PHYSICALLY
COUNT THE GOLD? |
Agreements among the Trustee, Bank of New York and the Custodian, HSBC Bank USA, allow for the
Trustees to visit and inspect the Trusts holdings of gold held by the custodian twice a year. In
addition, The Trusts independent auditors may audit the Gold holdings in the vault as part of
their audit of the Financial Statements of the Trust.
State Street Global
Markets, LLC
State Street
Financial Center
One
Lincoln Street
Boston, MA 02111
866.320.4053
spdrgoldshares.com
On May 21, 2008, the Trust changed its name to SPDR Gold Trust. Prior to this
date it was known as
SPDR®
Gold Trust.
streetTRACKS® is
a registered service mark of State Street Corporation.
The SPDR trademark is used under license from The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. No financial
product offered by SPDR® Gold Trust, or its affiliates is sponsored, endorsed, sold or
promoted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (McGraw-Hill). McGraw-Hill 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. McGraw-Hill is not responsible for and has not participated in any
determination or calculation made with respect to issuance or redemption of financial products.
McGraw-Hill has no obligation or liability in connection with the administration, marketing or
trading of financial products.
This material must be delivered with a prospectus. The prospectus contains material information
about the Trust and its Shares which is material and/or which may be important to you. You should
read the entire prospectus, including Risk Factors before making an investment decision about
the Shares.
SPDR® Gold Trust has filed a registration statement (including a prospectus) with the
SEC for the offering to which this communication relates. Before you invest, you should read the
prospectus in that registration statement and other documents the issuer has filed with the SEC for
more complete information about the Trust and this offering. You may get these documents for free
by visiting EDGAR on the SEC Web site at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, the Trust or any Authorized
Participant will arrange to send you the prospectus if you request it by calling toll free at
1-866-320-4053 or contacting State Street Global Markets, LLC, One Lincoln Street, Attn: SPDR Gold
Shares, 30th Floor, Boston, MA 02111.
STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This document 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 in this document 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 Trusts operations, the Sponsors plans
and references to the Trusts future success and other similar matters are forward-looking
statements. Investors are cautioned that these statements are only projections. 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 Sponsors 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 expenses and the impact of the termination of the fee reduction under the
Trust Indenture; purchasing activity in the gold market associated with the purchase of Baskets
from the Trust; the lack of experience of the Sponsor and its management in operating an investment
vehicle such as the Trust; unanticipated operational or trading problems; 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 lack of
a market for the Shares; the level of support from the World Gold Council; 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 Trusts gold; the lack of adequate sources of recovery if the
Trusts 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
sub-custodians to exercise due care in the safekeeping of the Trusts gold; the limited ability of
the Trustee and the Custodian to take legal action against sub-custodians; the insolvency of the
Custodian; the Trusts obligation to reimburse the Purchaser and the Market Agent for certain
liabilities in the event the Sponsor fails to indemnify them; competing claims over ownership of
intellectual property rights related to the Trust; 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 in this material
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 Trusts 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 Sponsors or Marketing Agents expectation or projections.
The value of the Shares relates directly to the value of the gold held by the Trust (less Trust
expenses) and fluctuations in the price of gold could materially adversely affect an investment in
the Shares.
Investors should be aware that there is no assurance that gold will maintain its long-term value in
terms of purchasing power in the future. In the event that the price of gold declines, the Sponsor
expects the value of an investment in the Shares to similarly decline.
Shareholders will not have the 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 Trust is not registered as an investment company under the
Investment Company Act of 1940 and is not required to register under such act. Neither the Sponsor
nor the Trustee is subject to regulation by the CFTC. Shareholders will not have the regulatory
protections provided to investors in CEA-regulated instruments or commodity pools.
For more information: State Street Global Markets, LLC, One Lincoln Street, Boston, MA, 02111
866.320.4053 www.spdrgoldshares.com
Marketed by State Street Global Markets, LLC, an affiliate of State Street Global Advisors, One
Lincoln Street, Boston, MA 02111-2900
IBG.GLD.FAQ.0608.v1
Not FDIC Insured No Bank Guarantee May Lose Value
SPDR® GOLD TRUST has filed a registration statement (including a prospectus) with the
SEC for the offering to which this communication relates. Before you invest, you should read the
prospectus in that registration statement and other documents the issuer has filed with the SEC for
more complete information about the Trust and this offering. You may get these documents for free
by visiting EDGAR on the SEC Web site at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, the Trust or any Authorized
Participant will arrange to send you the prospectus if you request it by calling toll free at
1-866-320-4053 or contacting State Street Global Markets, LLC, One Lincoln Street, Attn: SPDR®
Gold, 30th Floor, Boston, MA 02111.