After conversations with key players in the industry including a bullion dealer who used the safety deposit boxes for storage and delivery to clients, we can now confidently say that the speculation was incorrect.

What HSBC is actually doing is closing its safety deposit box facilities some of which are in vaults and strong rooms in branches.

The rapidity with which this information became received wisdom is a salutary lesson for the alternative media and the gold blogosphere. Bloggers need to be rigorous in establishing facts as they will be held to a much higher standard by the mainstream media – higher, even, than the latter sometimes hold for themselves.

HSBC Not Closing Gold Vaults – Safety Deposit Boxes of Clients‏ Being Closed