(JP: Please at least read the end of this email. In spite of my initial argument, I believe I concede something that has been a real burr on your saddle.)
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Title is held by The e-gold Bullion Reserve Special Purpose Trust > that exists for the *express* purpose of holding bullion for the exclusive > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > benefit of *all* e-gold account holders collectively. > ^^^^^^^ True, but the Agreement also says (3.1.2) "Under no circumstances will Issuer abrogate its obligation to back all e-metal with (at least) 100% reserve of physical metal." The phrase "at least" implies that it is possible for the Issuer (e-gold Ltd.) to have MORE than a 100% reserve of physical metal. This appears to be the case: Assets of Trust: 1,952,954.93 Liability of Trust to e-gold account holders: 1,933,848.72 > Metal is held free of any lien or encumbrance whatsoever > ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > and explicitly may not be attached to any liabilities of > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > e-gold Ltd. or any other entity. > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Certainly the grams in circulation are indeed held free of any lien or encumbrance. These are: Liability of Trust to e-gold account holders: 1,933,848.72 The spirit of the rule seems to be that liabilities to e-gold account holders are not also liabilities to someone else. Therefore the extra assets (19,106.21) can be liabilities to other parties without violating the rule. JP, these extra assets might even be the "gold buffer" you were talking about. This would take the form a liability from the Trust to the Issuer (e-gold Ltd.), looking something like this: -- BALANCE SHEET FOR E-GOLD SPECIAL PURPOSE TRUST: Assets: 1,952,954.93 Liability to e-gold account holders: 1,933,848.72 Liability to e-gold Ltd.: 19,106.21 Equity: 0.00 I think this balance sheet would still honour the User Agreement, because the metal IN CIRCULATION is indeed free of any lien or encumbrance whatsoever. Any extra metal is literally none of our business. However, if you want to get super-literal about it, your quotes from the User Agreement do seem to INSIST that the balance sheet look like this: Assets: 1,952,954.93 Liability to e-gold account holders: 1,952,954.93 Equity: 0.00 However, the "at least" clause in 3.1.2 seems to allow the Trust to have more metal than exists in circulation, and this seems like a reasonable allowance. Let me put it this way. If you accept the following two premises, then the conclusion follows. Premise 1: The Trust is allowed to hold more metal than exists in circulation. Premise 2: This extra metal does not appear as Equity on the Trust's balance sheet. Conclusion: The Trust is allowed to have liabilities to parties other than e-gold account holders. I agree with Premise 1 because I think it conforms with the clear intent of the User Agreement. You may of course disagree, insisting that all metal held in Trust be always in circulation. *** CONCESSION **** You know, it seems like the Trust could easily avoid this whole issue by simply holding these "other" liabilities IN E-GOLD ACCOUNTS. Just take the 19,106.21 gg and divvy it up into some new accounts. Boom! Assets = Liabilities to e-gold account holders. -- Patrick --- You are currently subscribed to e-gold-list as: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Use e-gold's Secure Randomized Keyboard (SRK) when accessing your e-gold account(s) via the web and shopping cart interfaces to help thwart keystroke loggers and common viruses.
