Emirates NBD launches gold sales

Dubai: Emirates NBD has launched a new service for customers looking to invest in the soaring gold market.

The new Gold Business service will enable customers to purchase gold instantly at spot prices at any of the 110 branches in the UAE.

The 52-week high for gold surpassed $1,430 (Dh5,248) per ounce this week amid speculation that it will climb higher amid volatile markets spurred on by uncertain European fiscal concerns.

Investors will be issued a gold certificate "issued in lieu of physical gold at international market rates prevailing at the time of purchase," the bank said.

Gold buyers can also opt to take the physical gold home with them rather than leave the precious metal with certified security firms Brinks and Transguard. The key to the new programme is offering customers a choice.

"The gold market has been gaining traction around the world and we think it's an important investment to be," said Jamal Bin Ghalaita, Group Deputy CEO of Emirates NBD, said in a press conference.

Growth

Since certificates were first offered in August, Bin Ghalaita said "we're seeing huge growth" in requests for gold purchases.

Asif Lakhany, Head of International and New Centures, said Dubai has a unique relationship with gold as one of the precious commodity's biggest trading hubs on the planet.

Expansion: New hires at the bank

Emirates NBD PJSC, the United Arab Emirates' biggest bank, expects to hire 200 to 300 people at the consumer-banking division next year as it expands the business, the lender's deputy chief executive officer said.

"We are adding more sales people, we have expanded private banking" and will expand it further, Jamal Bin Ghalaita, who also heads the consumer-banking division, told reporters at a conference to introduce the lender's gold certificates in Dubai. The Dubai government-controlled bank is also expanding its premium banking service, he said. Emirates NBD's retail- banking unit employs almost 4,000 people now, he said.

— Bloomberg