Precious Metals
Agency & Custody Agreement
Version BFREE-PM-2026-10-06-v2 · 6 October 2026
The client’s recorded identity and acceptance form part of this agreement. Each separate approved quote and execution consent completes the transaction-specific mandate.
1. Appointment and products
The client appoints BFREE FZE as a disclosed, non-discretionary agent for purchase, physically segregated custody, documentation, management and, only on a separate instruction, sale or physical withdrawal of investment bullion. Initial products are plain 24K investment gold bars (999 or finer) and pure silver bars (999 or finer), minted or cast, with standard hallmark, weight, purity, serial/lot and assay inscriptions. Minimum purchase is one gram; there is no commercial maximum, subject to availability and applicable banking, screening and operational limits. No jewellery, collectible premium, fractional ownership, pooling, leverage, metal lending or guaranteed return is offered.
2. Eligibility
Clients are based outside the GCC. BFREE may serve eligible clients globally. Before approval and each execution BFREE reviews identity, residence, source of funds, payment route and relevant sanctions or business restrictions recognized by the UAE, UN, USA, EU and applicable European national authorities. Nationality alone does not establish a prohibition. BFREE may decline or suspend a prohibited transaction and notify the client unless disclosure is legally restricted. Each instruction identifies metal, purity, bar weight, form and whole units.
3. Approval and purchase authority
Cart submission is a request for approval, not a purchase contract, locked price or commitment to a future sale. BFREE approves a dated estimate and supplies payment instructions. The client transfers funds and uploads evidence. Transfer evidence alone is not cleared payment. BFREE verifies funds; the client then confirms authority to purchase within specifications and a spending cap. Execution uses the actual dealer price on the purchase day. BFREE sources only from authorized UAE retail distributors and bullion dealers, not directly from refiners or mints. No pre-agreed buyback or future-price guarantee is part of purchase.
4. Charges, VAT and refundable buffer
The actual purchase statement identifies pure-metal value, minted/cast making charges, certificate/assay charge (including whether bundled), disclosed dealer additions, any legally due dealer VAT, and BFREE’s purchase service fee. Initially the service fee is 10% of pure-metal value plus disclosed dealer additions, excluding dealer VAT and refundable buffer. The 10% fee includes applicable service VAT: no additional 5% is added. For a standard-rated fee, VAT is inclusive fee × 5/105 and the exclusive fee is inclusive fee ÷ 1.05. Qualifying investment metal is zero-rated only when statutory purity and global-bullion-tradability conditions are satisfied; separately supplied services may differ. The quote and actual invoice disclose treatment. A stated refundable buffer may cover price, bank FX and transfer-fee fluctuation. Its unused balance is fully refundable, a client liability and neither revenue nor investment cost.
5. Payments and shortfall
Payment may go to BFREE’s identified UAE account or an identified local collection account. The approved bill states currency, bank/provider, collection route, conversion method, any disclosed BFREE quote rate, the executing bank/provider rate and transfer charges. The client bears disclosed transfer/conversion costs. No exchange margin is concealed in the metal price. If the requested specification costs more than available cleared funds, BFREE seeks a top-up, revised specification or cancellation instruction before exceeding authority. Substitution or quantity reduction requires consent. After execution BFREE reconciles costs and returns the full unused buffer/unspent balance within five UAE working days, subject to the limited delay clause below.
6. Ownership and possession
A quotation or cash transfer does not confer ownership of unpurchased metal. On completed spot purchase, payment to the dealer and allocation/delivery or legally effective constructive possession by BFREE as agent, the client owns 100% of the specifically identified whole bars. BFREE records dealer, time, weight, purity, serial/lot, seal, allocation and custody location and promptly supplies soft copies of receipt, certificate/assay evidence and allocation record. Bars are not BFREE assets and may not be pledged, lent, substituted, traded or used for another client. Purchase and later sale remain independent transactions at their respective day’s prices.
7. Segregated and uninsured custody
The client authorizes storage in BFREE’s secured UAE vaults or an approved dealer vault identified in the custody record. Each client’s metal is physically segregated and labelled with per-bar records and chain of custody. Storage is initially AED 0 for an unlimited holding period under the current tariff; this is not an irrevocable promise of free storage forever. BFREE provides no insurance or takaful. Clients are free to arrange their own insurance or takaful at their own cost with a provider of their choice. Any such policy is between the client and the chosen provider; BFREE does not act as insurer or guarantee its coverage or claims. BFREE will provide available ownership and custody documentation reasonably required for the client’s own cover. Except to the extent covered by the client’s independently arranged policy, the client expressly accepts uninsured theft, fire, damage, catastrophe and other loss exposure. This acknowledgement does not exclude BFREE liability for fraud, wilful misconduct, negligence, unauthorized use, failure to deliver allocated property or liability mandatory law cannot exclude. General UAE safety does not guarantee vault or asset safety. BFREE maintains access controls, movement records, reconciliation and incident reporting.
8. Inspection and withdrawal
The client may inspect or withdraw owned whole bars on at least five UAE working days’ notice, subject to identity/authority verification, vault arrangements and lawful restrictions. BFREE confirms the appointment or release. Delivery, export/import, transport, testing and third-party handling costs require prior disclosure and approval and are borne by the client if incurred. No extra revenue service is introduced by this agreement. Handover records the specific bars and closes their custody entry.
9. Separate sale mandate
Sale requires a new client instruction and confirmation of a current dated bid or expressly authorized minimum net amount. BFREE may sell to the original dealer, another approved corporate buyer/seller, or an eligible individual buyer, subject to screening, authentication, cleared payment and spot-possession requirements. No buyback price is pre-agreed. Where a reference price is quoted, dealer spread/margin is deducted once to obtain the actual bid; an already net bid is not discounted again. BFREE’s initial sale fee is 5% of actual metal sale consideration inclusive of applicable service VAT. Net proceeds equal buyer consideration less this fee, taxes legally due and previously disclosed approved costs. VAT is not automatically deducted from qualifying zero-rated metal. A dashboard reference price is not an executable offer.
10. Cancellation and remittance
The client may cancel at any time. Before execution BFREE returns cleared funds less disclosed, evidenced, unavoidable costs already incurred; an unearned purchase fee is not retained merely because an order was requested. After purchase, cancellation cannot reverse a completed spot purchase: the client directs physical withdrawal or a separate sale and solely bears costs and market losses. Sale proceeds are remitted within five UAE working days after completed sale and cleared buyer funds, subject to mandatory legal holds. UAE public holidays or documented force majeure extend the deadline only for the duration they actually prevent performance. BFREE reports cause, start/end and revised deadline and resumes promptly. UAE working days are Monday–Friday excluding announced UAE public holidays. UAE collection is AED or USD. Overseas remittance uses the chosen destination currency, executing bank/provider rate and disclosed charges.
11. Beneficiaries and succession
The client may nominate one or more beneficiaries or elect none. Client and nominated-beneficiary passports and relevant authority records are uploaded privately. A nomination is administrative and does not override mandatory succession law, Shariah inheritance shares, a valid will, estate debts or court order. Death/incapacity release requires lawful estate/representative authority. This agreement does not automatically gift metal to a nominee or guarantee an inheritance outcome.
12. Reports and decision support
The free app reports estimates, actual transactions, holdings, documents, communications and gross and estimated/realised net results over the client’s own holding period. Verified historical benchmarks may begin in 2000; gaps are identified. Pure-metal performance differs from after-cost performance. Data is labelled by source, time, unit, currency and reference/ask/bid status. Sell/hold suggestions apply transparent rules to the client’s target/liquidity needs and are not forecasts. The client decides when to sell. Past results do not assure future returns. Metals generate no interest or rental income and expose the client to price, spread, currency, liquidity and custody losses.
13. Prospective changes and records
BFREE may change tariffs prospectively with at least 30 calendar days’ in-app notice and an effective date. Changes do not retrospectively alter executed transactions. Each approved purchase/sale quote fixes its agreed fee version. New storage charges apply only from the notified effective date; the client may request sale/withdrawal before then. BFREE records the full accepted agreement/version, acceptance time, identity and separate execution consents. In-app notices are the primary channel; contact details must remain current. No additional revenue streams are included.
14. Data and governing terms
BFREE uses identity, beneficiary, payment and holdings data to administer agency, screen transactions, document ownership and meet mandatory recordkeeping duties. Access is limited to authorized staff and relevant dealers/vaults, banks, lawful providers and authorities as necessary. Passports and financial records are not public. A privacy/retention notice accompanies onboarding. UAE federal and applicable Umm Al Quwain law govern; competent UAE courts resolve disputes, subject to mandatory jurisdiction and consumer rights. Mandatory law prevails. The client confirms understanding of this English agreement, acceptance of agency, actual-price execution, segregation and uninsured custody, and retains a copy. Each separate quote/mandate specifies its product, spending cap and fee.