Some of the world's biggest banks and security companies are building vaults to store gold bars and coins worth tens of billions of dollars, cashing in on resurgent demand and record prices.
The growing interest in gold among investors worried about the global economy and Europe's sovereign debt crisis has led to a shortage of long-term storage space, prompting banks to open new vaults for the first time in years.
Bankers said that vaulting had become highly profitable. Rising bullion prices translate into higher storage fees, which are usually calculated as a percentage of the gold price. Gold prices this week rose to a nominal record of $1,251.20 a troy ounce, up 14.5 per cent since January. Yesterday, bullion traded at $1,226.