Book & Claim
Driving sustainable metal sourcing by transcending physical boundaries
This certificate, available for Silver, Gold, Platinum, Palladium, and Rhodium, is transferable only when linked to a metal transaction from Umicore to the certificate's beneficiary. Essentially, it functions as a metal transaction-backed book & claim certificate.
The availability of Book & Claim certificates correlates with the production levels at Umicore Precious Metals Refining, Hoboken, Belgium. However, these certificates are not directly tied to the physical flow of refined precious metals from our production facilities. Instead, they can be associated with precious metals of equivalent quality, responsibly sourced from other refiners and currently held by us.
This solution is crucial for non-physical precious metals transactions, further improving the responsible and sustainable sourcing of these metals.
The Book & Claim certificates are offered by Umicore Precious Metals Refining, using the ISO14021 definition of recycled material.
Book & claim is one of the Chain of Custody standards as described in ISO22095.2020 and PwC will be appointed to audit and certify this solution.
Characteristics
- High flexibility: no mandatory physical shipment of metal
- Umicore’s certified recycled content
- Responsibly sourced in compliance with LBMA/LPPM/RMI
- Refined under high-end technological and EHS conditions, ISO certified
What our customers say
"Nexyclus Book & Claim offers me the handling flexibility I need for my day-to-day activities, whilst adhering to AML/KYC rules." - Metals buyer - tier one bank
"I would compare this to the Fair Trade mark, but here with the underlying metal transactions it tops in terms of responsible sourcing." - ESG officer - leading Pharmaceutical company
"Chartering in a plane for a couple of kg PGM does not make sense from an ecological point of view. If Umicore can show proof of responsible sourcing, Book & Claim does the job for me." - Metals Trader - chemicals solutions provider
Frequently Asked Questions
Once the certificate is issued, it has no expiration date as the metal can be both short term used in applications, or long term stored for investment purposes.
Book and claim is a chain of custody model, as explained in ISO22095.2020. We apply it in our context where not all metal transactions are physical for all sorts of reasons (see example underneath). The Book and claim certificate is linked according to strict rules to a metal sales transaction from Umicore to a specific beneficiary, but the certificate does not necessarily follow the physical metal flow from Umicore to that beneficiary. Ultimately, the Book & Claim certificate can be linked to an equivalent quantity of metal, from another refinery or at another location, as long as it is destined to the same beneficiary. The metal has to meet the same technical specs as if it were produced in Hoboken. We ensure this through our responsible sourcing model.
It is important to highlight that the book & claim certificate can only by transfered following up on an underlying metals transaction between Umicore PMR and a beneficiary. Secondly, we are being audited on not transfering more certificates than the amount of metals we have produced. Furthermore, we have set up a system where we store cryptographic keys of the certificates to check validity upon request. These are measurements to exactly go in against potential greenwashing.
