This article was contributed by Future Money Trends. 

Yesterday, what we’ve all anticipated and wanted to see arrived!

The banking rules that we all call Basel III regulations are with us, and this means that there are crucial changes to the world of precious metals.

For one, effective now, if you are like me and own physical precious metals, know that your hoard, the assets that you possess, are considered risk-free and are finally getting the respect they deserve.

On the other hand, paper gold, or “unallocated metals,” will not be considered as such.

The line has been drawn between the real stuff and the futures and derivatives that banks like to play with.

This is a happy and satisfying day for me. I’ve been speaking about this since 2009 and I feel vindicated.

What is the significance of this? The banks lend funds, and the less they are required to hold in reserves, the better for them. From now on, holding paper precious metals will be less advantageous than holding physical metals.

The new liquidity requirements aim to “prevent dealers and banks from simply saying they have the gold, or having more than one owner for the gold they have” on their balance sheets.

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The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, which sets standards for the regulation of banks, developed Basel III in response to the global financial crisis.

It has taken many years, but we’re finally here, where physical metals are respected and admired as stable assets.

Many are asking me whether or not this is a big game-changer, and the answer is that much of the early excitement of it is already priced in.

In other words, I’m not expecting fireworks.

What I am envisioning is a gradual change, and it’s actually good since the possibility of more and more banking institutions realizing the new rule and implementing it will evolve.

This isn’t a gold standard and we’re not covering the currency supply with gold, but we are raising it to a new level, and that has merit.

As I speak with banking experts in the coming weeks, I’ll learn exactly how they view and perceive this and what they plan to do.

You either own physical metals or you don’t, and it finally makes a difference.