Guidelines on Guarantee, Withdrawal of Guarantee, and Obligations for Electronic Gold Trading Service Operators

Article

Lao People's Democratic Republic
Peace, Independence, Democracy, Unity, Prosperity

Ministry of Industry and Commerce No. 960/MOIC
Vientiane Capital, Date: April 30, 2025

Guideline
On Guarantee, Withdrawal of Guarantee Amount, and Obligations of
Gold Trading Service Operators via Electronic Means

- Pursuant to the Decree on Electronic Commerce No. 296/PM, dated April 12, 2021;
- Pursuant to the Decree on the Organization and Operation of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce No. 550/PM, dated September 1, 2025;
- Pursuant to the Agreement on Gold Trading Service Activities via Electronic Means No. 0666/MOIC, dated April 22, 2025;
Pursuant to the letter of the Department of Internal Trade No. 0723/ກຄພນ, dated July 1, 2025.

To elaborate, clarify, specify, and unify the implementation of certain articles of the Agreement on Gold Trading Service Business through Electronic Means No. 0666/ອດ, dated April 22, 2025, throughout the country, and to provide additional guidance on collateral trading, withdrawal of collateral funds, storage, and reporting of information regarding the operation of gold trading service business through electronic means, in order to promote the growth of such business, fair competition, protect the rights and interests of operators and consumers, and contribute to the socio-economic development of the nation.
The Minister of Industry and Commerce issues the following guidance:

1. Additional content
1. Section II: Guarantee and Withdrawal of Guarantee Amount
1.1 Article 11: Guarantee
Operators applying for a license to conduct gold trading services via electronic means must deposit a guarantee of ten billion kip with a commercial bank that has the conditions and readiness to accept the deposit, and issue a written account certificate to the Department of Domestic Trade, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, to serve as a basis for studying and issuing the license for gold trading services via electronic means, as follows:

]. A special account is a deposit account of a commercial bank established as a condition and to support
The deposit of collateral by the operator to apply for permission to conduct gold trading services through electronic means. This specific account is called a current deposit account.

2. Every time a current deposit account is opened, a bilateral agreement must be made between the commercial bank opening the deposit account and the operator, which agreement must clearly define the conditions, scope of the agreement, specify the purpose of the collateral, the period for refund of the collateral, recording and notification, monitoring, inspection and audit of the status of the current deposit account, including the determination of interest rates, use of the collateral, withdrawal of the collateral, and others;

3. After the operator opens the account for collateral and deposits money or gold bars into the account
Current account, the commercial bank receiving the trade deposit must officially issue a certificate of account and the amount of the trade guarantee to the operator, as evidence and reference for applying for the license to conduct electronic gold trading service activities in accordance with the procedures stipulated in the Agreement on Electronic Gold Trading Service Activities;

4. The trade guarantee must be kept in a current deposit account of a commercial bank opened in the name of the business unit, with a minimum trade guarantee amount of ten billion kip, according to regulations, which cannot be withdrawn, transferred, or used as collateral for other transactions, unless the operator complies with the conditions set forth in Article 12 of the Agreement on Electronic Gold Trading Service Activities.
and Article 2 of this guideline;
5. The period for returning the deposit guarantee shall be as stipulated in the bilateral contract, whereby the operator must increase the guarantee amount if it finds that the cumulative gold value of customers in electronic gold trading reaches 90% of the guarantee amount. The operator shall analyze the demand for electronic gold trading over the past six months and report to the Department of Domestic Trade to study and issue an official letter to the commercial bank where the deposit account is opened, in order to amend the contract and increase the guarantee amount to suit the actual situation and prevent potential risks;
In case the operator does not increase the guarantee amount, which has a value up to 95% of the guarantee amount

Initially, the Department of Domestic Trade must issue a notice to suspend operations through the said platform temporarily;

6. Current deposit accounts must be systematically recorded and alerted when the cumulative value approaches 90% of the guarantee amount, so that the operator increases the guarantee amount, and

Must assess the operational status of the customer's gold purchase-sale account and other operational status of the operator every six months, to report to the Department of Domestic Trade, Ministry of Industry and Commerce for acknowledgment and consideration;

7. The Department of Domestic Trade, together with the commercial bank receiving the guarantee deposit, shall monitor, inspect, and examine
Check the status of the operator's current deposit account regularly (monthly, quarterly, yearly) or in urgent cases, it can be checked immediately and promptly.

8. The determination and withdrawal of interest rates on the collateral amount in the current deposit account shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the tripartite agreement;

9. The current deposit account can be closed, which must follow the procedures stipulated in Article 12 of the Agreement on Electronic Gold Trading Services and Article 12 of this guideline;

10. The commercial bank receiving the collateral deposit may use the collateral amount for lending in accordance with the bank's regulations;

For the use of the collateral amount, the bank must have recording evidence, the purpose of the fund use,
The period for refund and reporting must obtain prior approval from the Department of Domestic Trade within ten working days before implementation, and notify the business operator who is the owner of the funds.

1.2 Article 12: Withdrawal of Guarantee Deposit

Withdrawal of the guarantee deposit shall be carried out as follows:

1. Cases include: (1) cancellation of the gold trading service via electronic means, (2) problems in delivering gold to customers, and (3) the operator being declared bankrupt by a court. In all three cases, refunds must be processed for customers who bought or sold gold via electronic means. The Department of Domestic Trade must urgently submit to the leadership of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce for consideration and issuance of a decision on...
Appointment of a committee responsible for handling issues, including: the Department of Non-Bank Financial Institution Supervision and the Department of Commercial Bank Supervision of the Bank of the Lao PDR, the Department of Digital Technology of the Ministry of Technology and Communications, and other relevant parties.

2. In case of violation or breach of contract by either party between the commercial bank and the operator, both parties shall perform and amend the contract according to regulations, or may be required to compensate for damages arising from the violation or breach of contract;

3. The operator's request to withdraw the guarantee deposit can be made upon maturity or termination of the contract, provided that there is no problem with delivery of goods to customers or no court judgment of bankruptcy.
Details: The bank where the deposit account is opened must refund the full amount of the guarantee and the documents certifying the delivery or withdrawal of the guarantee amount.

+ Documents required for requesting withdrawal of the guarantee amount are as follows:
A. Case of the operator voluntarily requesting cessation of business

An operator voluntarily requesting cessation of business must submit the following documents:

1. A letter requesting voluntary cessation of business;
2. A report on the business activities in the form prescribed by the Department of Internal Trade, Ministry of Industry and Commerce;
3. A decision on the appointment of a committee to resolve the delivery of goods to all customers;
4. A record of the settlement account for the delivery of goods to customers;
5. A letter requesting withdrawal of the guarantee amount from the operator to the Department of Internal Trade, Ministry of Industry and Commerce;
6. After the letter requesting the withdrawal of the guarantee deposit from the Department of Domestic Trade, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, to the commercial bank;

7. The operator may request an additional withdrawal from the initial guarantee deposit of one billion kip when the cumulative gold purchase account balance of customers falls below the initial guarantee amount or below 90% of one billion kip, and must submit the following documents:

1) A letter of request submitted to the Department of Domestic Trade, Ministry of Industry and Commerce;
2) A report on the business operation status according to the form of the Department of Domestic Trade;
3) A certificate of the actual gold purchase-sale account value from the operator and a certificate of the guarantee deposit amount.

7

B. Handling of cases of operator bankruptcy
In case of bankruptcy of the operator, the following documents must be submitted:

1. Certificate or judgment of bankruptcy from the Supreme People's Court;
2. Resolution on the appointment of a committee to settle the delivery of gold to all customers in full;
3. Accounting record of gold settlement delivery or return to customers;
4. Application for withdrawal of guarantee deposit by the operator submitted to the Department of Domestic Trade, Ministry of Industry and Commerce;
5. Letter from the Department of Domestic Trade, Ministry of Industry and Commerce to the commercial bank for withdrawal of guarantee deposit.

2. Section 4 Rights and Obligations of Operators of Electronic Gold Trading Services
2.1 Article 14 Obligations of Operators of Electronic Gold Trading Services
1. Must enter into contracts and open linked accounts with at least two commercial banks in Lao kip to facilitate customers in making payment transactions for gold purchase-sale through electronic means, and such accounts must be in the company's name;

2. For the storage of data on activities of gold purchase-sale service operations through electronic means, data must be stored on at least two servers of the relevant operators, but such data must also be submitted to the Department of Digital Technology, Ministry of Technology and Communications, in accordance with regulations, and the data storage must be updated regularly;

3. Must have a warning system to notify the Department of Internal Trade and operators of increases in trading amounts
Additional guarantee to continue the gold trading service through electronic means, when it is seen that the guarantee amount is close to 95% of the total guaranteed amount; the increase of the guarantee amount shall be carried out as stipulated in this guideline;

4. Must immediately notify the Department of Internal Trade in case of gold purchase-sale transactions with a value of one billion kip or more per transaction per account, and there are continuous purchase transactions which are deemed risky or suspected of money laundering, for monitoring, inspection and reporting to the leadership of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the Anti-Money Laundering Office and the Counter-Terrorism Financing Office for acknowledgment and consideration;

5. Must summarize and report the results of business operations on a daily, monthly and yearly basis through the 411 system.
Form for buying and selling gold through electronic means, submitted to the Department of Internal Trade, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the Department of Non-Bank Financial Institutions Supervision, and the Department of Commercial Bank Supervision of the Bank of the Lao PDR, according to the draft inter-sectoral unified report for operators;

6. Must establish monitoring and inspection mechanisms by specifying channels and facilitating regulatory bodies to access data in the electronic gold trading system in real time, daily, monthly, and yearly on a periodic basis, whereby the monitoring and inspection channels are accessible only to the Director General of the Department of Internal Trade and the relevant Directors General of the Bank of the Lao PDR.

22 Additional obligations of operators of electronic gold trading services
1. The maintenance and guarantee of the gold trading service system via electronic means must be stable or conduct transactions normally. If there is an update or temporary system shutdown for repairs, a plan must be developed and submitted to the Department of Domestic Trade, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and the Department of Digital Technology, Ministry of Technology and Communications for research and consideration of timely updates and fixes.

2. Customer accounts must be classified into 3 levels:
1) Small: each gold transaction amount not exceeding 300 million kip;
2) Medium: each gold transaction amount between 300 million kip and 1 billion kip;
3) Large: exceeding 1 billion kip.
3. Create channels, procedures and mechanisms for resolving gold purchase-sale transaction disputes through electronic means online in their application or website to facilitate and resolve initial disputes, which must be resolved and mediated through compromise between suppliers and consumers or among suppliers themselves, which also helps reduce complaints and resolve disputes through state transactions.

11. Implementation methods
1. Assign the Department of Domestic Trade to be the lead in coordinating with the Bank of the Lao PDR, commercial banks and operators to implement this guideline effectively.
2. Assign the Department of Domestic Trade to be the lead in coordinating with the Provincial Department of Industry and Commerce,
Capital, Industry and Commerce Offices of districts, cities, and relevant parties to disseminate, introduce and implement this guideline effectively.

(Signed) Chansavang Bounyong