SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Spectrum Group International, Inc.’s (SPGZ.pk) subsidiary A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. (“A-Mark”) today announced the official opening of its new Vienna, Austria-based trading desk. With this opening, A-Mark’s trading hours have been expanded to 17 hours per day. The new hours will be from 12:00 p.m. midnight to 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time; 3:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and 9:00 a.m. (09:00) to 2:00 a.m. (02:00) Central European Time. The new hours are effective beginning October 3, 2011.
Thor Gjerdrum, A-Mark’s CFO, commented, “A-Mark has implemented a globally standardized Precious Metals Trading Platform that allows customers to call our long-established trading phone numbers from anywhere in the world and get a live trader 17 hours a day. The system will automatically route the customer to one of A-Mark’s two trading desks, depending on the time of day. This change will be seamless to A-Mark’s customers, while offering significantly greater access to the precious metals markets.”
“We are very excited to offer full European trading-day access to our clients as well as increased access to the Asian time zones. We have staffed our Vienna desk with experienced traders who will be able to offer the same high quality service that our clients currently receive. This team will be led by Nick Sarantes, a 17-year employee of A-Mark and one of our most senior traders,” stated Rand LeShay, Senior Vice President of Trading.
Nicholas Sarantes, Vice President of Trading, added, “I am pleased to have the opportunity to oversee our expansion into the European time zones, based in our new Vienna Millennium Tower trading desk. A-Mark can now offer a full business day of products and services to the Central European Time zone and expanded hours to our customers worldwide.”
About Spectrum Group International, Inc.
Spectrum Group International, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, “we,” the “Company” or “SGI”) is a global trading and collectibles network. We are a trader of precious metals and an auctioneer of coins, stamps and wine, serving both collectors and dealers. We are also a merchant/dealer of certain collectibles. Our collectibles offerings span the price spectrum from modest to ultra-high end. Furthermore, we offer loans to coin dealers, collectors and investors backed by their precious metals, rare coins, and other collectibles as collateral.
Our Trading business is conducted through A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. (“A-Mark”) and its subsidiaries. A-Mark is a full-service precious metal trading company, and an official distributor for many government mints throughout the world. A-Mark products include gold, silver, platinum and palladium for storage and delivery in the form of coins, bars, wafers and grain, and our services include financing, leasing, consignment, hedging and various customized financial programs. A-Mark’s subsidiary, Collateral Finance Corporation, provides financing on a wide array of bullion and numismatic products.
Our Collectibles business operates as an integrated network of leading companies concentrating on numismatic (coins) and philatelic (stamps) materials and rare and fine vintage wine. We have offices and auction houses in North America, Europe and Asia. In addition to traditional live auctions, we also conduct Internet and telephone auctions.
Our Collectibles companies in the philatelic field are auction houses Harmer Global Philatelic Network GmbH, Corinphila Auktionen of Zurich, Switzerland, Heinrich Köhler Auktionshaus of Wiesbaden, Germany, Corinphila Veilingen B.V., Amstelveen, Netherlands, and John Bull Stamp Auctions, Ltd of Hong Kong. Spectrum Group’s Collectibles companies in the numismatics field include Stack’s Bowers Galleries (rare coin and currency auction house), Stack’s Bowers and Ponterio (world and ancient coins and currency auction house), Teletrade (online coin auctions), and Spectrum Numismatics International (wholesale rare coin dealer), all based in Irvine, California. Spectrum Wine Auctions is engaged in the sale by auction of rare and fine vintage wine.
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