A long-awaited gold depository in Texas remains in limbo

In 2015, Texas Governor Greg Abbott in 2015 signed into law an act establishing a state bullion depository at no cost to taxpayers. He intends to enter into a public-private partnership with a qualified company to provide a secure, physical depository and an agency of innovation.

A non-banking financial facility will provide Texans with secure resources for a wide range of gold-backed financial services privately sponsored and publicly supervised by the state of Texas.

Here is coverage from the Forth Worth Star-Telegram:

Plans to create a gold depository in Texas are moving slower than anticipated.

State officials originally planned to announce the winning proposal to create a Texas Bullion Depository last year and hoped to have work on it under way by Dec. 1.

Now, more than two months after the original deadline, which officials say was never set in stone, there’s still no news yet on where a depository will be located — or who will build and run it.

“Our team is working to get this done as soon as possible,” said Chris Bryan, a spokesman with the Texas Comptroller’s Office. “They are committed to providing Texans with a secure gold bullion depository.

“But as with anything this complex, and any issue this important, experts in our office know it’s better to be right than fast.”

The depository, approved by lawmakers in 2015, is geared to give Texans a place to store their gold and other precious metals.

But it’s not just for residents. Financial institutions, cities, school districts, businesses, individuals, and countries could do business there as well. And storage fees will be charged to generate revenue for the state.

Officials have said the depository could be in one location, or multiple sites throughout the state, depending on which proposal the Texas Comptroller’s task force, which will make the selection, prefers.

Last year, state officials laid out criteria for a Texas depository, noting that any company wanting to create and manage it must shoulder all the upfront costs and be reimbursed down the road once storage fees and other payments begin.

Due to ongoing negotiations, officials won’t say how many responses, or proposals, they received to develop the depository. But they say there were “a number” of them.