freQuently aSKed QueStiOnS

Emerald Trade requires the government offices of its ministry of lands and mines (ANM) to certify that the mine, mine owner(s), and sales representatives, as well as any exporters, are in good standing and possess the requisite licenses. Emerald Trade obtains export clearance documents from the government for every emerald exported out of those countries to reflect Emerald Trade as the owner of record and the party to receive the shipment. The shipment is audited by the public accounting firm of Auditorias & Consultorias Integrales.

When the emeralds are released from the bank vaults in these countries to be shipped to the bank vault in Miami, Florida, they are sealed inside polystyrene packages used by the gemstone lab that graded and certified the quality of the gemstones. Also sealed inside is the numbered certificate of the grading lab to ensure the certificate and the emerald(s) are never separated.

Emerald Trade employs a U.S. auditing firm to certify the deposits into the master custody account of Emerald Trade all emeralds contained in arriving shipment each calendar quarter. The cost of the audit is paid by Emerald Trade. The job of the auditor is to verify that the documents are originals issued by the government, the exporter, the importer, the grading lab, the appraiser, and Emerald Trade is assignment of beneficial ownership of each emerald to the purchaser of record. The custodian bank then acts as custodian for the owner of record. At the end of each year a full audit reflecting all emeralds deposited into and withdrawn from the master custody account.

Every calendar quarter (90 days) the worlds foremost experts in colored gemstones provide data from their region of the globe to the publisher of The GemGuide. The data received from gemstone appraisers based in every regional market worldwide reflects the supply and demand in their respective regional markets by type (grade, size, color, etc.). The GemGuide has long been recognized by the precious gemstone industry as the foremost authority for determining the current price of emeralds. Emerald Trade relies on these published and updated prices when valuing its emerald inventory. All buy, sell, transactions are based on the published GemGuide price at the time of the transaction.