What changed in this filing

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Item 9A. Controls and Procedures

2021-11-24 compared with 2020-11-24 · 52 added, 57 removed, 489 unchanged (18% of the section changed)

16 unchanged sentences

The Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial and Accounting Officer of the Sponsor assessed the effectiveness of the Trust’s internal control over financial reporting as of September 30, 2021.

In making this assessment, they used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013).

In making this assessment, they used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway

Commission (COSO) in Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013).

Their assessment included an evaluation of the design of the Trust’s internal control over financial reporting and testing of the operational effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting.

4 unchanged sentences

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Shareholders and the Trustee of SPDR ®

Gold Trust and the Board of Directors of World Gold Trust Services, LLC:

To the Shareholders and the Trustee of SPDR® Gold Trust and the Board of Directors of World Gold Trust Services, LLC:

Opinion on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

We have audited SPDR ®

Gold Trust’s (the Trust) internal control over financial reporting as of September 30, 2020, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013)

We have audited SPDR® Gold Trust’s (the Trust) internal control over financial reporting as of September 30, 2021, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013)

issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.

3 unchanged sentences

Basis for Opinion

The management of World Gold Trust

, LLC (the Trust’s sponsor) is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting.

The management of World Gold Trust Services, LLC (the Trust’s sponsor) is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting.

Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Trust’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit.

17 unchanged sentences

Not applicable.

Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections.

Not applicable.

Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance

32 unchanged sentences

Shea served as Vice Chairman of BankBoston Corporation from January 1993 to August 1998.

He was the Vice Chairman and a Senior Partner of Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers), an international public accounting firm, for whom he worked from June 1974 to December 1992.

Shea sits on the boards of AIG SunAmerica, a mutual funds

company, and is Chairman of the Board of Demoulas Supermarkets, Inc., a privately held retail grocery store chain in New England.

He was the Vice Chairman and a Senior Partner of Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers), an international public accounting firm, for whom he

worked from June 1974 to December 1992.

Shea sits on the boards of AIG SunAmerica, a mutual funds company, and is Chairman of the Board of Demoulas Supermarkets, Inc., a privately held retail grocery store chain in New England.

He was a board member of Boston Private Financial Holdings, a public bank holding company, and its related bank from June 2004 to May 2014.

32 unchanged sentences

Wolkoff is the founder and CEO of Wolkoff Consulting Services, LLC.

Previously, from October 2008 to February 2012 he served as the Chief Executive Officer of ELX Futures, L.P., founded by major dealer banks and trading firms to compete in the area of interest rate futures.

Previously, from October 2008 to February 2012 he served as the Chief Executive Officer of ELX Futures, L.P., founded by major dealer banks and trading firms to compete in the

area of interest rate futures.

From April 2005 to October 2008 Mr.

1 unchanged sentence

Prior to the AMEX, for over 20 years, Mr.

Wolkoff held several senior level officer positions at the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) including Acting President, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, and Senior Vice President for

Regulation and Clearing, in which position Mr.

Wolkoff was the exchange’s chief regulatory officer.

22 unchanged sentences

Audit-related fees

In the table above, in accordance with the SEC’s definitions and rules, Audit Fees are fees paid to KPMG LLP for professional services for the audit of the Trust’s financial statements included in the annual report on Form

and review of financial statements included in the quarterly reports on Form 10-Q,

43 unchanged sentences

Description of the Securities Registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Third Amended and Restated Allocated Bullion Account Agreement dated August 18, 2020.

Exhibit Description

1 unchanged sentence

Filing Date/Period

Third Amended and Restated Allocated Bullion Account Agreement dated August 18, 2020.

Second Amended and Restated Unallocated Bullion Account Agreement dated July 17, 2015.

21 unchanged sentences

XBRL Instance Document

XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document

XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document

XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document

Exhibit Description

1 unchanged sentence

Filing Date/Period

XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document

XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document

XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document

XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document

37 unchanged sentences

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of World Gold Trust

, LLC (the Trust’s sponsor).

These financial statements are the responsibility of World Gold Trust Services, LLC (the Trust’s sponsor).

Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.

27 unchanged sentences

at September 30, 2021 and 2020

(Amounts in 000’s of US$ except for share data)

Investment in Gold, at fair value (cost $ 60,743,750 and $ 39,069,054 at September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively)

(Amounts in 000’s of US$ except for share and per share data)

Investments in Gold, at fair value (cost $ 49,227,344 and $ 60,743,750 at September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively)

Accounts payable to Sponsor

33 unchanged sentences

INCREASE/DECREASE IN CASH FROM OPERATIONS:

Proceeds received from sales of gold

Expenses paid

Cash proceeds received from sales of gold

Cash expenses paid

Increase/(Decrease) in cash resulting from operations

3 unchanged sentences

FINANCING ACTIVITIES:

Value of gold received for creation of shares-net of change in gold receivable

Value of gold distributed for redemption of shares-net of change in gold payable

Value of gold received for creation of shares-net

of change in gold receivable

Value of gold distributed for redemption of shares-net

of change in gold payable

(Amounts in 000’s of US$)

24 unchanged sentences

The investment objective of the Trust is for the Shares to reflect the performance of the price of gold bullion, less the Trust’s expenses.

World Gold Trust Services, LLC (“WGTS”) is the sponsor of the Trust (the “Sponsor”).

BNY Mellon Asset Servicing, a division of The Bank of New York Mellon (“BNYM”) is the trustee of the Trust (the “Trustee”).

State Street Global Advisors Funds Distributors, LLC (“SSGA”) is the marketing agent of the Trust (the “Marketing Agent”).

HSBC Bank plc (“HSBC”) is the custodian of the Trust (the “Custodian”).

World Gold Trust Services, LLC is the sponsor of the Trust (the “Sponsor”).

BNY Mellon Asset Servicing, a division of The Bank of New York Mellon, is the trustee of the Trust (the “Trustee”).

State Street Global Advisors Funds Distributors, LLC is the marketing agent of the Trust (the “Marketing Agent”).

HSBC Bank plc is the custodian of the Trust (the “Custodian”).

The Shares trade on the NYSE Arca, Inc.

11 unchanged sentences

Basis of Accounting

The Trust is an investment company and, therefore, applies the specialized accounting and reporting guidance in Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946, Financial Services—Investment Companies.

For accounting purposes only, the Trust is an investment company and, therefore, applies the specialized accounting and reporting guidance in Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 946, Financial Services—Investment Companies.

The Trust is not registered as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

Fair Value Measurement

25 unchanged sentences

Custody of Gold

Gold is held by HSBC Bank plc, on behalf of the Trust, 100 % of which is allocated gold in the form of good delivery gold bars which includes gold held with a subcustodian.

During the year ended September 30, 2020, some gold was held with a subcustodian (the Bank of England) from April 15, 2020 to August 1 3

Since August 1 3

, 2020, subcustodians have not held any gold on behalf of the Trust.

Gold is held by the Custodian on behalf of the Trust, 100 % of which is allocated gold in the form of good delivery gold bars which includes gold held with a subcustodian.

During the year ended September 30, 2021, no gold was held by a subcustodian.

12 unchanged sentences

As the Shares of the Trust are redeemable in Baskets at the option of the Authorized Participants, the Trust has classified the Shares as Net Assets for financial reporting purposes.

Activity in the number of Shares created and redeemed for the years ended September 30, 2020, 2019 and 2018 are as follows:

(All amounts are in 000’s)

Activity in the number and value of Shares created and redeemed for the years ended September 30, 2021, 2020 and 2019 are as follows:

(Amounts are in 000’s)

Activity in Number of Shares Created and Redeemed:

5 unchanged sentences

The Trustee will, at the direction of the Sponsor or in its own discretion, sell the Trust’s gold as necessary to pay the Trust’s expenses.

When selling gold to pay expenses, the Trustee will endeavor to sell the smallest amount of

gold needed to pay expenses in order to minimize the Trust’s holdings

of assets other than gold.

Unless otherwise directed by the Sponsor, the Trustee will sell gold to the Custodian at the next LBMA Gold Price PM following the sale order.

A gain or loss is recognized based on the difference between the selling price and the average cost of the gold sold, and such amounts are reported as net realized gain/(loss) from investment in gold sold to pay expenses on the Statement of Operations.

The Trust’s net realized and change in unrealized appreciation/(depreciation) on investment in gold for the year ended September 30, 2020 of $ 13,309,558 is made up of a realized gain of $ 37,273 from the sale of gold to pay expenses, a realized gain of $ 2,138,221 from gold distributed for the redemption of Shares, and a change in unrealized appreciation of $ 11,134,064 on investment in gold.

The Trust’s net realized and change in unrealized appreciation/(depreciation) on investment in gold for the year ended September 30, 2019 of $ 7,385,336 is made up of a realized gain of $ 6,023 from the sale of gold to pay expenses, a realized gain of $ 593,851 from gold distributed for the redemption of Shares, and a change in unrealized appreciation of $ 6,785,462 on investment in gold.

When selling gold to pay expenses, the Trustee will endeavor to sell the smallest amount of gold needed to pay expenses in order to minimize the Trust’s holdings of assets other than gold.

Unless otherwise directed by the Sponsor, the Trustee will sell gold to the Custodian at the next LBMA Gold Price PM following

the sale order.

The Trust’s net realized and change in unrealized gain/(loss) on investment in gold for the year ended September 30, 2021 of $( 5,488,874 ) is made up of a net

realized gain of $ 43,413 from the sale of gold to pay expenses, a net

realized gain of $ 4,455,284 from gold distributed for the redemption of Shares, and a change in unrealized depreciation of $ 9,987,571 on investment in gold.

The Trust’s net realized and change in unrealized gain/(loss) on investment in gold for the year ended September 30, 2020 of $ 13,309,558 is made up of a net

realized gain of $ 37,273 from the sale of gold to pay expenses, a net

realized gain of $ 2,138,221 from gold distributed for the redemption of Shares, and a change in unrealized appreciation of $ 11,134,064 on investment in gold.

The Trust is classified as a “grantor trust” for U.S.

3 unchanged sentences

Instead, the Trust’s income and expenses will “flow through” to the Shareholders, and the Trustee will report the Trust’s proceeds, income, deductions, gains, and losses to the Internal Revenue Service on that basis.

The Sponsor has evaluated whether or not there are uncertain tax positions that require financial statement recognition and has determined that no reserves for uncertain tax positions are required as of September 30, 2020 or 2019.

The Sponsor of the Trust has evaluated whether or not there are uncertain tax positions that require financial statement recognition and has determined that no reserves for uncertain tax positions are required as of September 30, 2021 or 2020.

The Sponsor evaluates tax positions taken or expected to be taken in the course of its tax treatment, and its tax reporting to its shareholders, of these positions to determine whether the tax positions are “more-likely-than-not”

4 unchanged sentences

As of September 30, 2021, the 2020, 2019, and 2018 tax years remain open for examination.

There are no examinations in progress at period end.

New Accounting Pronouncements

In August 2018, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update 2018-13,

Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820):

Disclosure Framework—Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement (“ASU 2018-13”).

The update provides guidance that eliminates, adds and modifies certain disclosure requirements for fair value measurements.

will be effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019.

Early adoption is permitted.

Management does not currently expect these changes to have a material impact to future financial statements.

There were no examinations in progress at period end.

Quarterly Statements of Operations

30 unchanged sentences

The Trust’s sole business activity is the investment of gold.

Several factors could affect the price of gold including:

Various factors could affect the price of gold including:

(i) global supply and demand, which is influenced by such factors as gold’s uses in jewelry, technology and industrial applications, purchases made by investors in the form of bars, coins and other gold products, forward selling by gold producers, purchases made by gold producers to unwind gold hedge positions, central bank purchases and sales, and production and cost levels in major gold-producing countries such as China, Australia, and the United States;

9 unchanged sentences

Indemnification

The Sponsor, and its shareholders, members, directors, officers, employees, affiliates and subsidiaries, are indemnified by the Trust and held harmless against certain losses, liabilities or expenses incurred in the performance of their duties under the Trust Indenture without gross negligence, bad faith, willful misconduct, willful malfeasance or reckless disregard of the indemnified party’s obligations and duties under the Trust Indenture.

performance of their duties under the Trust Indenture without gross negligence, bad faith, willful misconduct, willful malfeasance or reckless disregard of the indemnified party’s obligations and duties under the Trust Indenture.

Such indemnity includes payment by the Trust of the costs and expenses incurred in defending against any claim or liability under the Trust Indenture.

6 unchanged sentences

Financial Highlights

The Trust is presenting the following financial highlights related to investment performance and operations of a Share outstanding for the years ended September 30, 2020, 2019 and 2018.

The Trust is presenting the following financial highlights related to investment performance and operations of a Share outstanding for the years ended September 30, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

The total return at net asset value is based on the change in net asset value of a Share during the period and the total return at market value is based on the change in market value of a Share on the NYSE Arca during the period.

14 unchanged sentences

Compared sentence by sentence after normalising whitespace, quotation marks, case and digits, so re-formatting and restated figures do not read as changed language. Wording changes appear as one removal and one addition. The current filing and the prior one are authoritative.

What changed 10-K

Item 9A. Controls and Procedures