Q & A with Dr. Douglas Jackson On Recent Changes to the e-gold Business

In the October issue of DGCmagazine, we published a list of questions within an article entitled: ´What will the new e-gold look like?´ At the same time, I emailed the questions to Dr. Douglas Jackson and humbly asked for this information. Shortly after that inquiry, we received several polite email messages directly from Dr. Jackson with the requested information.

While his schedule is a very busy one, he was able to provide us with some very thoughtful answers and also release a detailed agent agreement (draft) which shows the requirements for ALL existing and future independent exchange agents for e-gold products. The draft agent agreement is listed below. I´d like to thank Dr. Jackson for taking time to answer my questions and provide us this detailed information.

(Q) Will an active marketplace of third party independent exchange agents still operate? Or will the new e-gold v2.0 be required to manage all exchange services? In house? e-gold is continuing a thoroughgoing transformation, seeking to re-emerge as a regulated US financial institution.

The core attributes that characterize e-gold - 100% reserve of physical gold in allocated storage, immediate irreversible settlement of e-gold transfers, extremely low fees for settling e-gold transfers - will continue. The long overdue changes fall in the area of account provisioning (Customer Identification and Due Diligence), Transaction Monitoring, and regulation of exchange providers.

Since the core e-gold functions of Issuance and Settlement were devolved onto e-gold Ltd. in 2000, business activities that entail financial risk, particularly exchange, have been within the purview of independent third parties. Likewise, responsibility and authority for the specialized actions that lead to an increase or decrease in the quantity of e-gold in circulation, the role we refer to as Primary Dealer, will continue to be delegated to third parties since e-gold itself continues to have no capability of accepting or making money payments.

We have determined however that the unique characteristics of e-gold relative to conventional brands of money issued by sovereign entities - primarily its inherently global nature, the capability of conveying value across borders in real-time, with a strictly online interaction with Users - do introduce a heightened risk of abuses such as money laundering or terrorist finance and warrant a risk-based rethinking of the need to regulate exchange providers.

Exchange services, unlike e-gold, accept and make money payments from/to the public. In Anti-Money Laundering (AML) lingo, exchange is the nexus where the "Placement" stage of money laundering could occur. Although a Customer´s money payments to an exchange provider do not introduce new value into the e-gold system, successful placement of funds derived from criminal activity could lead to a situation in which the e-gold system could be unwittingly used for Layering or Integration of the proceeds of crime.

To mitigate this risk we have devised some core principles, and will be fleshing these out into explicit policies and procedures for the regulation of exchange services dealing in e-gold.

I am attaching a draft policy being prepared for distribution to known exchange services that outlines the regulatory framework we envision. (below)

(Q) PayPal restricts the exchange of their units with any other digital money. Whether automated or not, will the new e-gold TOS still allow open market exchanges with other e-currency such as Pecunix, V-money or Webmoney? It is an interesting question and I don´t yet have an answer pending dialog with government regulators in conjunction with opinion of counsel and other expert advice. This also inevitably depends to a major degree on these other systems as well, particularly their policies and actions vis-a-vis AML and CTF considerations.

(Q) Will all transactions still be final and the slogan "get paid and stay paid" remain true with no chargebacks? Yes. However, the e-gold Account User Agreement has been modified to broaden the circumstances in which e-gold Ltd. may freeze and account. Please see 4.6.1.1., which states:

"4.6.1.1. If e-gold investigators reasonably suspect that the e-gold account of User is being used to launder the proceeds of crime or for any other criminal purpose, Issuer may freeze the e-gold account and any other e-gold accounts of User. Additionally, at the sole discretion of Issuer, User will be subject to damages and other penalties, including criminal prosecution where available and the notification of the general public of User´s actions, at the sole discretion of Issuer."

(Q) As PayPal and GoldMoney require, will future e-gold users be sending funds directly to e-gold and never using an independent agent? The e-gold system is a closed universe of value. By that I mean that e-gold Ltd. has never had the capability of accepting funds from the public. Increases or decreases in the quantity of e-gold in circulation can only be effected as a result of Open Market Operations of Primary Dealers resulting in bailment of gold into the e-gold system for issuance of e-gold (increasing circulation) or redemption of e-gold for gold from the system (extinguishing a corresponding amount of e-gold and thus contracting circulation).

This is similar to the practice of government central banks who also do not accept funds in any form directly from the end-users of the currencies they issue. Although similar, there are key differences that are discussed in my blog post entitled " Set It and Forget It - Harnessing Collective Wisdom to Achieve Monetary Stability". http://blog.e-gold.com/2007/12/set-it-and-forg.html

(Q) Will e-gold be available now to be easily purchased with a credit card or ACH transfer as PayPal allows? That is an issue for the businesses that undertake to offer exchange to decide, but there are definitely risk based arguments against exchange services accepting value via repudiable payment methods in exchange for another form of value fulfilled via a non-repudiable form of payment.

(Q) Will all future e-gold accounts still operate as both a merchant & customer account with no distinction or additional requirements? Yes. The only reason other payment systems make a distinction between consumers (people who pay) vs. merchants (businesses that receive payment) is because of the credit risk and attendant repudiability of payments processed through their platforms. In all credit based systems the receipt of payment is conditional, as if the payment is being loaned to the recipient but might have to be paid/pulled back. In the event of fraud losses, as is well known, the loss is generally borne by the hapless merchant/recipient. eBay´s PayPal, for example, publishes in its SEC filings a minuscule number (0.25% of Total Payment Value) for fraud losses but that number is THEIR fraud losses.

What they do not disclose is the composite fraud/chargeback losses of PayPal users, particularly the "merchants".

With e-gold, there is no element of credit. The finality of settlement of e-gold´s spend protocol derives from Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), further strengthened by a strict debit rule. Since e-gold itself never accepts payment in any form from the public it is not exposed to the default or fraud risks (or other costs) that plague all credit based systems.

Stated differently, the recipient of payment in any credit based system will always be exposed to at least the costs and payment reversal risks of the financial intermediary or intermediaries processing their payment.

Again, using Paypal as an example, for every $million of Total Payment Value (TPV) processed, PayPal extracts net revenue of $38 - 40 thousand. About $26 - $30 thousand per million TPV is primarily comprised of PayPal´s direct cost for bank/credit card interchange fees, since an increasing proportion of what is already the majority of PayPal payments continue to be "funded" by credit card. Thus, this puts a rather high lower bound on how low PayPal´s net revenue per $million of TPV can go for PayPal to remain profitable.

In contrast, the gross Spend fee revenue per million units TPV in e-gold has always been about 2 thousand.

(Q) Might e-gold now require a monthly fee to operate an account beyond agio/storage? We don´t anticipate any additional monthly fee. Our to-do list does however include implementation of an automated lost-password replacement protocol that would entail a fee that tracks the cost of mailing a code to the User.

(Q) Can OmniPay open again? Will OmniPay ever move to or operate from Africa as proposed? It is the intent of the Directors of Gold & Silver Reserve to get OmniPay up and running again. One of the challenges is to obtain licenses from the various states that require it.

OmniPay remains committed to an Africa strategy but that does not entail moving OmniPay´s Operator function offshore. The original plan was for OmniPay Africa to lease the right to act as the principal for customer exchanges but for G&SR to continue serving as Operator. For the moment, however, other matters, such as G&SR/OmniPay obtaining state licenses and working through other critical tasks on its AML Compliance Enhancement Plan are more urgent.

(Q) In order to establish if a financial profit was generated by rising gold prices in a funded account, will an IRS form be required each time digital gold is sold? (As Crowne Gold required) Our sense is that exchange rate fluctuations are incidental, similar to when a person travels internationally and the exchange rate used for computing credit card charges fluctuates, sometimes in the card holder´s favor, sometimes their disfavor. I think it would be more appropriate to regard/treat e-gold as a "foreign currency" rather than as an investment. However, my personal opinion should not be construed as accounting or legal advice to e-gold Users.

(Q) Might e-gold consider an in house debit card for withdrawals? No. Debit cards are useful but will always remain in the purview of exchange providers and other financial intermediaries. That is not to say however that e-gold will not eventually evaluate other interfaces for Users to enter Spend orders.

(Q) Will e-gold accounts still be offered to almost every country around the world or will e-gold be forced into a country by country selection as PayPal does? Temporarily, pending further progress in the area of Customer Due Diligence and Transaction Monitoring, e-gold is suspending support for e-gold Users in selected jurisdictions that are regarded as high risk for money laundering and other criminal abuses. We regard it as urgent however to implement these additional safeguards that will enable us to restore service to these countries. This is a separate matter, however, from OFAC sanctioned countries. OFAC sanctioned countries remain strictly off limits for e-gold.

(Q) Now that the bulk of legal issues appear to be sorted out, should or could the current e-gold Ltd. company just pack up and move outside the US or open additional foreign offices (Panama?) A silver lining of the protracted legal struggle is that e-gold now has a path forward as a regulated US financial institution. I can´t conceive of a better means for e-gold to break clean from the reputation issues that have plagued it over the years and finally emerge to play a role in the financial and commercial mainstream.

Regardless of where e-gold Ltd. itself may be domiciled, or which contractor serves as Operator, e-gold is committed to continued compliance with US law and regulation.

I would like to especially thank Dr. Jackson for taking time out to answer my questions. I think I speak for a large part of the DGC Industry when I say, "We wish you the best in your future e-gold business along with good health & prosperity for you and your family."

e-gold Policy regarding Exchange Services

e-gold Ltd., the Issuer of the e-gold family of e-metals, does not provide exchange services. The e-gold community of Users has always relied upon independent providers of exchange who offer their services on a competitive basis. Prior to October 2008, e-gold did not undertake to regulate exchange services other than to exercise its Right of Association to block the e-gold accounts of entities suspected of fraud, money laundering or other criminal abuse.

As of October 2008 this policy is changed. e-gold now requires the following of any institution or business [bank, MSB, exchange service or other financial institution] offering exchange between e-gold and other media (national currencies or privately issued liabilities):

Exchange services offering service to US-based customers must:

register with FinCEN as a financial institution, and,

restrict service, offering exchange only to customers in states where the service is licensed or where the state has issued a written determination to that service indicating that a license is not required.

Exchange services that do not serve US customers must:

activate and maintain the "exclude-US" feature on any e-gold accounts used for provision of exchange services,

obtain registration and relevant licensing in the jurisdiction they conduct business in.

In addition, e-gold Ltd. will conduct Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) on all exchange services providing exchanges involving e-gold. The specific requirements of this EDD may be amended from time to time at the discretion of e-gold Ltd. or to comply with externally imposed regulatory requirements.

As of October 2008, exchange services should provide:

Articles of Incorporation

Company organizational structure

Certificate of Good Standing

Proof of FinCEN registration (US Companies)

Proof of license for states requiring licensure

Financial statements

Geographic areas served

Names of company principals

List of principal´s ownership in any other company

Signed and notarized copy of principal´s passport or drivers license

Notarized copy of a utility bill showing principal´s home address

signed and notarized agreement listing:

The names and relevant addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and e-gold account numbers of the principal owners,

URL of Web site offering prospective exchange services along with e-gold account numbers that will be used

Signed copy of the current G&SR/OmniPay User Agreement

Signed copy of the current e-gold User Agreement

A competitive market for exchange continues to be a vital element supporting the emergence and usefulness of e-gold. Balanced against this need for innovation and competition, however, is the necessity of risk-based measures to combat money laundering or terrorist finance. Accordingly, it shall also be the policy of e-gold to monitor e-gold transactions in order to detect exchange services that have not complied with e-gold´s policy. Upon detection of a business offering exchange that has not complied with this policy, e-gold reserves the right to take measures it deems necessary to assure compliance.

(This is a draft document subject to change.)

DGCmagazine.com