What changed in this filing

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Item 9A. Controls and Procedures

2025-11-25 compared with 2024-11-25 · 42 added, 23 removed, 776 unchanged (8% of the section changed)

5 unchanged sentences

Change in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

There was no change in the Trust’s or the Funds’ internal controls over financial reporting that occurred during the year ended September 30, 2024 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, these internal controls.

There was no change in the Trust’s or GLDM's internal controls over financial reporting that occurred during the year ended September 30, 2025 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, these internal controls.

Management ’ s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

The Sponsor’s management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as defined under Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f).

The Trust’s and the Funds’ internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.

The Trust’s and GLDM's internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.

Internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that:

(1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the Trust’s and the Funds’ assets, (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that the Trust’s and the Funds’ receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with appropriate authorizations;

and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the Trust’s and the Funds’ assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

(1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the Trust’s and GLDM's assets, (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that the Trust’s and GLDM's receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with appropriate authorizations;

and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the Trust’s and GLDM's assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements.

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Based on their assessment and those criteria, the Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial and Accounting Officer of the Sponsor concluded that the Trust and GLDM maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of September 30, 2025.

KPMG LLP, the independent registered public accounting firm that audited and reported on the financial statements as of and for the year ended September 30, 2024 included in this Form 10-K, as stated in their report which is included herein, issued an attestation report on the effectiveness of the Trust’s and GLDM’s internal control over financial reporting as of September 30, 2024.

November 25, 2025

33 unchanged sentences

The Board of Directors of the Sponsor consists of four individuals, of whom three serve on its Audit Committee.

The Audit Committee has the responsibility for overseeing the financial reporting process of the Trust, including the risks and controls of that process and such other oversight functions as are typically performed by an audit committee of a public company.

The Audit Committee is responsible for overseeing the financial reporting process of the Trust, including the risks and controls of that process and such other oversight functions as are typically performed by an audit committee of a public company.

Cavatoni , age 57, is the Principal Executive Officer of the Sponsor.

Cavatoni is also the Principal Executive Officer of World Gold Trust Services, LLC, an affiliate of the Sponsor (“WGTS”), and the Chief Market Strategist (North America) at World Gold Council (“WGC”).

Cavatoni is also the Principal Executive Officer of World Gold Trust Services, LLC, an affiliate of the Sponsor (“WGTS”), and the Chief Market Strategist (North America) at the World Gold Council (“WGC”).

Prior to joining WGC as Managing Director USA and ETFs in September 2016, from April 2009 to December 2015, Mr.

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Cavatoni received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from The George Washington University and his Master of Business Administration degree from Northwestern University and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Amanda Krichman , age 33, is the is the Principal Financial and Accounting Officer of the Sponsor.

Amanda Krichman , age 34, is the Principal Financial and Accounting Officer of the Sponsor.

Krichman is also the Principal Financial and Accounting Officer of WGTS and the Funds Chief Operating Officer at WGC.

3 unchanged sentences

Prior to that she held various roles at Goldman Sachs Asset Management from July 2013 to November 2018.

Krichman received her Bachelor degree from Syracuse University and her Master of Business Administration degree from New York University.

Krichman received her Bachelor's degree from Syracuse University and her Master of Business Administration degree from New York University.

Shea , age 77, has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Sponsor since January 2013 and is a member of the Board’s Audit Committee.

54 unchanged sentences

Tait should serve as Director because of the knowledge and extensive experience he gained in a variety of leadership roles with different financial institutions and the experience he has gained serving as the Chief Executive Officer of World Gold Council and director of WGTS.

Policies of the Sponsor

The Sponsor has a code of ethics (the “Code of Ethics”) that applies to its executive officers and agents, including its Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial and Accounting Officer, who perform certain functions with respect to the Trust that, if the Trust had executive officers would typically be performed by them.

1 unchanged sentence

The Sponsor’s Code of Ethics is intended to be a codification of the business and ethical principles that guide the Sponsor, and to deter wrongdoing, to promote honest and ethical conduct, to avoid conflicts of interest, and to foster compliance with applicable governmental laws, rules and regulations, the prompt internal reporting of violations and accountability for adherence to this code.

Since neither GLDM nor the Trust have any directors, officers or employees, neither GLDM nor the Trust have adopted an insider trading policy governing the purchase, sale and other disposition of the Shares.

The World Gold Council has adopted a Personal Account Trading Policy (the "Policy") which is reasonably designed to comply with applicable laws and regulations to prevent any conflicts of interest and the misuse of material non-public information.

The Policy prohibits individuals subject to it from trading in any securities while in possession of material non-public information obtained through their role at the World Gold Council or from otherwise disclosing any such material non-public information outside of the World Gold Council.

The officers and directors of the Sponsor are governed by the terms of the Policy.

The Policy is reviewed periodically and updated as needed to comply with applicable laws, regulations and best practices.

The Policy is filed as Exhibit 19.1 to this report.

Executive Compensation

14 unchanged sentences

$ 86,875 $ 103,500

$ 104,000 $ 102,000

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 Form 10-K and review of financial statements included in the Forms 10-Q, and for services that are normally provided by the accountants in connection with regulatory filings or engagements.

52 unchanged sentences

and World Gold Trust, on behalf of its series, SPDR Gold MiniShares Trust

Una llocated Precious Metal Account Agreement dated December 1, 2023 between JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.

Unallocated Precious Metal Account Agreement dated December 1, 2023 between JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.

and World Gold Trust, on behalf of its series, SPDR Gold MiniShares Trust

Personal Account Trading Policy

Consent of KPMG LLP

4 unchanged sentences

Certification of Principal Financial and Accounting Officer pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

Clawback Policy

Inline XBRL Instance Document

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We evaluated the design and tested the operating effectiveness of certain internal controls over the Trust’s gold holdings process, including controls over (1) the comparison of the Trust’s records of gold held to the custodians' records and (2) the approval of gold deposits and withdrawals by the trustee of the Trust.

We obtained a schedules directly from the custodians of the Trust’s gold holdings held by the custodians as of September 30, 2024.

We obtained schedules directly from the custodians of the Trust’s gold holdings held by the custodians as of September 30, 2025.

We compared the total ounces on such schedules to the Trust’s record of gold holdings.

94 unchanged sentences

Increase/(Decrease) in accounts payable to Sponsor

247 89 ( 269 )

Net cash provided by operating activities

154 unchanged sentences

Increase/(Decrease) in accounts payable to Sponsor

247 89 ( 269 )

Net cash provided by operating activities

24 unchanged sentences

The beneficial interest in the Trust may be divided into one or more series.

The Trust has established six separate series, one of which is operational as of September 30, 2024.

The accompanying financial statements relate to the Trust and its one operational series, SPDR® Gold MiniShares® Trust (“GLDM”).

SPDR® Gold MiniShares® Trust (“GLDM”) is the only operational series of the Trust as of September 30, 2025.

The accompanying financial statements relate to the Trust and GLDM.

The shares of GLDM (the “Shares”) began publicly trading on June 26, 2018 on the NYSE Arca, Inc.

10 unchanged sentences

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

The Trust had no operations with respect to GLDM’s Shares prior to June 26, 2018 other than matters relating to its organization and the registration of the offer and sale of GLDM’s Shares under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

The Trust had no operations with respect to the Shares prior to June 26, 2018 other than matters relating to its organization and the registration of the offer and sale of the Shares under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

Significant Accounting Policies

5 unchanged sentences

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

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

It is not registered, and is not required to be registered, as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

These financial statements present the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the Trust combined with its operating series and GLDM separately.

30 unchanged sentences

There were no transfers between Level 1 and other Levels for the years ended September 30, 2025 and 2024.

The Administrator values the gold held by GLDM on the basis of the price of an ounce of gold as determined by ICE Benchmark Administration Limited (the “IBA”), a benchmark administrator, which provides an independently administered auction process, as well as the overall administration and governance for the London Bullion Market Association (the “LBMA”).

In determining the NAV of GLDM, the Administrator values the gold held on the basis of the price of an ounce of gold determined by the IBA 3:00 PM auction process (the “LBMA Gold Price PM”), which is an electronic auction.

The Administrator values the gold held by GLDM based on the price of an ounce of gold as determined by ICE Benchmark Administration Limited (the “IBA”).

The IBA provides the auction platform and methodology as well as the overall administration and governance for the LBMA Gold Price.

In determining the NAV of GLDM, the Administrator values the gold held based on the price of an ounce of gold determined by the IBA 3:00 PM auction process (the “LBMA Gold Price PM”), which is an electronic auction.

The auction runs twice daily at 10:30 AM and 3:00 PM London time.

5 unchanged sentences

Gold is held by the Custodians on behalf of GLDM, 100 % of which is allocated gold in the form of good delivery gold bars.

A current list of all gold held by each Custodian, including any held with a subcustodian is available on the sponsor’s website at www.spdrgoldshares.com.

ICBC Standard Bank Plc (“ICBC”) and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.

(“JPMorgan”) are GLDM's custodians (each a “Custodian” and together, the “Custodians”)

Gold Receivable

8 unchanged sentences

Sep-30, 2025 Sep-30, 2024

$ 52,121 $ 14,867

Creations and Redemptions of Shares

35 unchanged sentences

There were no examinations in progress at period end.

Segment Reporting

GLDM adopted Financial Accounting Standards Board Update 2023-07, Segment Reporting (Topic 280) - Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures (“ASU 2023-07”) during the period.

GLDM's adoption of the new standard impacted financial statement disclosures only and did not affect GLDM's financial position or results of operations.

Operating segments are components of a public entity that engage in business activities from which it may recognize revenues and incur expenses, have discrete financial information available, and have their operating results regularly reviewed by the public entity's chief operating decision maker (“CODM”) when assessing segment performance and making decisions about segment resources.

The Principal Financial and Accounting Officer of the Sponsor performs the functions of GLDM's CODM.

The CODM monitors the operating results of GLDM as a whole, and GLDM's asset allocation is managed in accordance with its Prospectus.

GLDM operates as a single operating and reporting segment pursuant to its investment objective.

GLDM's prospectus describes GLDM's fees, investment objective, and principal risks, among other items.

GLDM's portfolio composition, total returns, expense ratios and changes in net assets used by the CODM to assess segment performance and make resource allocations are consistent with the information presented within GLDM's financial statements.

The accompanying financial statements detail GLDM's segment assets, liabilities, revenues, and expenses.

Segment assets are reflected on the GLDM's Statements of Financial Condition as “Total Assets” and significant segment expenses are listed on the Statement of Operations.

World Gold Trust

77 unchanged sentences

and (7) global or regional political, economic or financial events and situations.

In addition, while gold it used to preserve wealth by investors around the world, there is no assurance that gold will maintain its long-term value in terms of purchasing power in the future.

In addition, while gold is used to preserve wealth by investors around the world, there is no assurance that gold will maintain its long-term value in terms of purchasing power in the future.

In the event that the price of gold declines, the Sponsor expects the value of an investment in the Shares to decline proportionately.

38 unchanged sentences

46.65 % 42.20 % 11.16 %

Subsequent Events

In accordance with the provisions set forth in FASB ASC 855-10, Subsequent Events, the Sponsor's management evaluated the possibility of subsequent events impacting the Trust’s and GLDM's financial statements through the filing date and has not identified any material subsequent events requiring adjustment to or disclosure in the financial statements.

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