The AMF warns the public against the offerings of UGE Group

The UGE Group website offers investment in physical gold and to manage its storage. Customers commit to leaving their physical gold in a safe deposit box with one of their partners for a period of two to five years and grant UGE a buy-back option. The company offers to pay its customers a monthly fee for securing the gold.

UGE Group presents this investment as a "safe haven" that provides "the certainty of being able to resell [gold] at least at its purchase price, without fear of a possible drop in prices", or as an "additional income".

However, the AMF has not issued any registration or approval for this company or the investment solutions that it is offering. After many fruitless discussions, we were unable to clarify the precise legal and economic arrangements of UGE Group's offering. Consequently, the AMF cannot give an opinion on the credibility of this company and the offerings it is proposing.

The AMF also points out that the company regularly changes its visual identity and website.

The AMF recommends that investors exercise the utmost vigilance with regard to investment offers and players that are unregistered and unauthorised.

As a rule, the AMF reminds investors and individuals to follow these safety guidelines before making any investment:

• No advertising materials should make you overlook the fact that high returns always involve high risk;
• Ask yourself how, and by whom, the purchase price or selling price of the advertised product is set, and find out the precise terms and timeline for selling the product, especially in cases where the product invests in an asset class with low liquidity;
• Learn as much as you can about the company or intermediary trying to sell you a product (identity, country of establishment, civil liability, organisational rules, etc.);
• Check that the company approaching you is not subject to an AMF’s alert (black lists, alerts and warnings);
• If the company that has contacted you has not been blacklisted by the AMF, this does not mean that it is authorised to provide you with financial services;
• Do not give your personal data (phone number, email address, ID documents, bank details, IBAN, proof of residence, etc.) to websites for which you have no proof of reliability;
• Only invest in a product you understand.
  
   

About the AMF
The AMF is an independent public authority responsible for ensuring that savings invested in financial products are protected and that investors are provided with adequate information. The AMF also supervises the orderly operations of markets. Visit our website https://www.amf-france.org