(Bloomberg) --
The head of Dubai's commodity exchange took a swipe at Swiss authorities for telling their refiners to tighten up audits on gold imports from the United Arab Emirates.
Switzerland this month wrote to refineries urging that sufficient steps are taken to identify the true country of origin for all gold coming from the UAE. There have been concerns from non-governmental organizations in recent years that regulatory loopholes allow gold linked to conflict and money laundering to trade in Dubai, heightening worries that such metal may end up in Europe via the key refining hub of Switzerland.
In a LinkedIn post on Wednesday, the chief executive officer of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre criticized the Swiss letter and accused authorities there of hypocrisy.
“Is taking a blanket approach to isolating key trading partners such as the UAE, rather than working with them to address specific, evidence-based issues, a credible way to protect its gold industry?” DMCC CEO Ahmed Bin Sulayem said in the post.
The DMCC CEO pointed out that its rules force members to follow the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's guidelines on sourcing minerals. He added that he wanted to work with the Swiss gold industry in a more collaborative way.
Switzerland's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, which sent the letter to refineries this month, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the DMCC's response.
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