Delaware Depository Services Company (DDSC) Review
Company Background
Delaware Depository is a precious metals storage company located in Wilmington, Delaware.
The company was founded in 1999, and very recognized for its security, storage, and processing capabilities. It is licensed and reviewed by various commodity exchanges.
It is also chartered, regulated, and examined by the Office of the Delaware State Banking Commissioner.
The depository is built on a 6.1 million square feet area. According to its president Jon Potts it is the largest precious metal depository outside New York. For some people, location choice for the depository may seem illogical but it is located at the heart of America's primary business route.
Delaware Depository offers secure storage to its customers as it is regionally isolated from most of the risks associated with the major economical and political centers of Washington DC and NYC.
However, it is still at a convenient distance from the major transport hubs.
Company clients can store their assets of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium in DDSC secure storage relatively free of natural disasters that can affect other parts of the nation.
Contact Information
Delaware Depository Precious Metals Depository
3601 North Market St. Wilmington, DE 19802
Phone: 302-765-3889
Fax: 302-762-2674
Who are the customers of the Delaware Depository?
Delaware Depository provides services to commodity exchanges, major custodians, bullion dealers, and individual investors across the nation.
As a regulated trust company, bullion in their physical possession is IRS compliant and can be included in individual retirement accounts.
Storage location options
However, it is not the only storage location that the company offers to its clients. Customers can choose to store their bullion in Orange County, CA if they don't like the Wilmington, DE option.
It's not all of it yet. Customers may also choose to store their assets in the international depositories of the company located in Canada and Switzerland.
Where do they store precious metals?
You bought precious metals and chose Delaware Depository to store them for you. That is great because every item that arrives at the facility is tested for authenticity before storage.
The company has precision scales, magnifiers, eddy-current testers, and all related equipment to execute necessary testing to do it.
They don’t move stored assets.
It is also important to note that your metals are stored off the balance sheet and are not regarded as an asset of the company. The company does not make markets, trade, or invest its inventory. It does what it is supposed to do, storing your assets safe and secure.
We have already mentioned the company has multiple sites which gives them a better disaster recovery plan.
Offered Storage Types
Storing their assets, customers should choose either a segregated or a non-segregated storage. As you can expect, segregated storage is a more expensive option since it requires more labor to maintain.
What aspects their storage facilities have?
High security
Delaware Depository stores all customer assets in its own high-security facilities. The company ensures that its customers deal directly with the safe, not a middleman.
All buildings and equipment used by the company are their own and not leased from a 3rd party.
The business is well-financed and does not have any loans or other obligations that may adversely affect its activities.
Multiple layers of assurance
Access is very restricted and regulated by numerous control measures. Delaware storage has multiple layers of bulletproof, interlocking, steel doors that control access to both headquarters and high-security zones.
Also, the vaults are surrounded with concrete blocks that have reinforced with twenty-one inch thick reinforced steel.
Within these blocks, their Class III vaults are built and maintained in accordance with the Bank Protection Act as well as the UL standards. Blocks have automatic locking devices and time lock integration that further enhance the security level.
Constant surveillance
Surveillance systems monitor all activity from and to the high-security zones. As personnel moves through the system, the metal detectors compare the metal content of each employee to the earlier saved metal content of the employee.
If any disparity is discovered, the passage is denied for the employee. A complete database of images and metal profiles of each employee and every transit is constantly registered.
In addition, all areas are safeguarded by redundant alarms and security systems that detect movement, sound, and vibration. Facilities are surveilled 24/7, 365 days per year. And all activity, all around the facility, is determined and recorded.
In order to guarantee continuous operation, backup power sources and backup communication capabilities are used. But security is a lot, a lot far more than heavily protected buildings and vaults.
It is a perfect blend of these state-of-the-art facilities with verified inventory control systems, strict internal controls, a very well-defined account system, and extensive insurance coverage that ensures unmatched security.
In addition to physical and electronic security controls, Delaware Depository protects billions of dollars of the customers through the use of self-developed internal controls.
The segregation of responsibilities and dual-control procedures is used all across the company operation. All electronic information and recordings are backed stored securely in both on/off-site data vaults.
Independent 3rd party reviews
Internal inventory monitoring is carried out on a continuous basis. Operations are reviewed and evaluated by 3rd party independent, certified public accountants, and insurance underwriters, and independent security experts.
The company has business stability, information security plans, and disaster response infrastructure in place.
Comprehensive employer background verification
But what's pretty outstanding is their highly experienced personnel. Indeed, management and supervisory personnel alone already have 250 years of combined experience in precious metals.
Criminal history checks, credit checks, and ongoing drug screening inspections are carried out on all employees.
In order to further protect customer assets, all precious metal is fully allocated and retained off-balance sheet, subject only to the directives of their clients.
This proves the client is regarded as the sole proprietor of the stored assets. Since the Delaware Depository doesn’t lend or borrow money, all stored assets are safe from creditors.
Insurance
The company holds one billion dollars in all-risk precious metals insurance underwritten through Lloyd's of London.
As you have seen, security at Delaware Depository is of the greatest priority. Many phases of physical and electronic security, internal controls, legal protection, practice, and substantial insurance coverage make Delaware Depository among the most secure operations of this kind.
Licenses and Accreditations
Delaware Depository is an accredited business by BBB since 2016. It is a licensed depository of the CME Group (COMEX and NYMEX Divisions) for the storage of gold, silver, platinum, palladium. The depository is also licensed by the ICE Futures US for its silver storage.
It fully complies with the regulations of the IRA Internal Revenue Service for the protection and maintenance of precious metals, which means that customers can use the facilities to store their metals in the Precious Metals IRA.
Coins that can be stored for this intent include Gold American Buffalos, American Eagle bullion, and proofs, Canadian Maple Leafs. In addition, any bar or round that fully meets the fineness requirements of the IRS Code is also eligible.
Conclusion
The company is a great fit for those who have precious metals or intent to own. Although a depository option to store precious metals may seem expensive, it is in fact not.
I believe it is more economical to pay for a secure service rather than going cheap and worrying at a later time. I would highly recommend the company, but you should always do your own due diligence.
