The reserve bay

Six routines, one custody desk, a single Ledger

Every service below is a scheduled routine run by the custody desk of FSC GLOBAL ASSETS PTE. LTD. at 22 Sin Ming Lane #06-76 Midview City 573969, Singapore (SG). A routine is not a meeting. It is a documented procedure with a checklist, two signers and a written report, and it exists so that a reserve can be examined from a different angle each time. Ask for a scoping call

Book a routine

Service detail

What happens inside each routine

The six routines cover the full life of a reserve: it is counted, moved, inspected, titled and insured. Each one is described below with the work that happens before the vault opens, the work that happens inside and the document that leaves with the client at the end.

Reserve Audit Desk

The reserve audit begins with a sealed inventory printed from the client register and a written tolerance agreed in advance, usually in grams for bullion and in units for certificates. On the day, two counters work the shelf from the lowest position upward, weighing each unit on calibrated scales and photographing the serial face before it is returned to its position. Every photograph is filed against the position number, not the counter name, so the evidence survives staff changes.

The audit closes with a reconciliation page that lists the opening balance, the counted balance, every exception and the sign-off of both counters. Exceptions larger than tolerance are escalated the same day, and a short narrative explains what happened and what was done. Most clients schedule the audit quarterly; a few schedule it monthly for a high value reserve and annually for a small one. Materials, scales and camera equipment are supplied by the desk.

Custody Transfer Rounds

A custody transfer round happens whenever responsibility for a set of units changes hands, whether between two client entities, between a client and a financing counterparty, or between two vaults. The round pairs two counters from separate desks so that neither can complete the move alone. Before the door opens, the paperwork is prepared: a transfer memorandum naming the units, serials and destination, and a receiving sheet that the destination vault must sign.

Inside the vault, each unit is verified on the shelf, moved to a sealed crate and counted again at the door. The transfer memorandum is signed at the vault face by both counters and by the client representative, and the crate is sealed with a numbered tie. The round ends with the seal number recorded in both registers. If a receiving vault reports a different count, the seal number and the photographs allow the desk to establish where the movement diverged, usually within the same working day.

Bullion Logistics Weeks

A logistics week is a full movement programme rather than a single delivery. It begins with a route plan that names each leg, each handover point and each receiving inspection, and it ends with a movement journal that lists every crate opened, every seal number and every signature collected along the way. The week is planned around the client calendar so that heavy movements do not collide with audits, financing dates or board meetings.

Transport crates are prepared in advance with fitted foam and tamper evident numbering. Escort scheduling is handled with the courier partner, and the desk provides a holding witness at each handover so that the client does not need to send staff to every point. The receiving vault performs its own inspection, and any discrepancy is photographed on arrival rather than discussed later. At the close of the week the journal is issued in both printed and digital form, with a short summary page for the client records team.

Vault Inspection Days

An inspection day looks at the room rather than the contents. The door is examined for seal integrity, the alarm panel is tested against its log, humidity and temperature readings are recorded at three points, and the shelving is checked for load and corrosion. The desk also counts the empty positions, because a reserve that grows quietly will eventually outgrow its shelves, and a reserve that shrinks leaves empty space that should be accounted for.

Emergency lighting, the duel custody procedure and the access register are reviewed with the vault operator. Any finding is written into a room note that separates immediate defects from routine maintenance. Inspection days work best when they sit a few weeks ahead of an audit, because the room is then known to be sound before the contents are counted. The report closes with a suggested date for the next inspection and a short list of items the operator should address in the meantime.

Title Verification Sessions

Possession is not ownership, and a title session exists to keep the two apart. The desk reviews the ownership documents behind each holding, the chain of custody from the original acquisition, any pledge or lien registered against the units and any restriction that would prevent a sale or a pledge in the future. When documents are held by a third party, the session usually includes a written confirmation from that party.

Sessions are confidential and are held in a closed room with a written authority from the client legal team. A title note is issued at the end, listing each holding, its supporting documents, any gap in the chain and any encumbrance found. The note is written in plain language so that a director who was not present can read it and understand the position. Where a gap cannot be closed, the desk says so clearly rather than smoothing the record.

Insurance Review Evenings

An insurance review evening brings the policy schedule and the inspection findings onto the same table. The desk checks the declared value against the latest audit, the single item limit against the largest unit held, the transit cover against the logistics calendar and the exclusions against the way the vault is actually operated. Reviews are held in the evening because they usually need the finance lead and the broker in the same conversation.

The evening closes with a short amendment list that the client can take to the broker, ordered by priority. Typical items include a gap between declared value and audited value, a transit cover that does not reach a new destination, and a warranty clause that assumes a procedure the operator no longer follows. The desk does not sell insurance and does not accept commission; the work is limited to the review and the written list.

Routines are booked by the quarter, and the winter vault inspection window is now open for scheduling at the custody desk.

Process overview

How a booking becomes a signed record

The path from first conversation to final report is short and deliberately plain. There are four stages, and each one ends with a document the client can file.

Scope

We discuss the reserve, the documents around it and the systems that hold the inventory. The output is a one page scope note that names the routine, the vault, the counters and the tolerance.

Preparation

The desk prepares the inventory extract, the checklists and, where needed, the movement plan. The client confirms access times and names the representative who will sign.

Execution

Two counters run the routine on site. Photographs, weights and signatures are captured as the work proceeds, so nothing is reconstructed from memory afterwards.

Report

A plain language report is delivered within five working days, with an exception list and a suggested date for the next routine. The report is signed and sealed for the client records.

Tell us what the reserve holds and which routine would help most, and the desk will propose a scope.

Speak with the custody desk