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asserting such claims, and the assertion of such a claim by the liquidator could delay creations and redemptions of Baskets. In issuing Baskets, the Trustee relies on certain information |
received from the Custodian which is subject to confirmation after the Trustee has relied on the information. If such information |
turns out to be incorrect, Baskets may be issued in exchange for an amount of gold which is more or less than the amount of gold |
which is required to be deposited with the Trust. The Custodian’s definitive records are prepared after |
the close of its business day. However, when issuing Baskets, the Trustee relies on information reporting the amount of gold |
credited to the Trust’s accounts which it receives from the Custodian during the business day and which is subject to correction |
during the preparation of the Custodian’s definitive records after the close of business. If the information relied upon |
by the Trustee is incorrect, the amount of gold actually received by the Trust may be more or less than the amount required |
to be deposited for the issuance of Baskets. GENERAL RISKS The Trust relies on the information and technology systems |
of the Trustee, the Custodian, the Marketing Agent and, to a lesser degree, the Sponsor, which could be adversely affected by information |
systems interruptions, cybersecurity attacks or other disruptions which could have a material adverse effect on the Trust’s |
record keeping and operations. The Custodian, the Trustee and the Marketing Agent depend upon |
information technology infrastructure, including network, hardware and software systems to conduct their business as it relates |
to the Trust. A cybersecurity incident, or a failure to protect their computer systems, networks and information against cybersecurity |
threats, could result in a loss of information and adversely impact their ability to conduct their business, including their business |
on behalf of the Trust. Despite implementation of network and other cybersecurity measures, their security measures may not be |
adequate to protect against all cybersecurity threats. 32 Uncertainty regarding the effects of Brexit could adversely |
affect the price of the Shares. The United Kingdom (the “UK”) left the European Union |
(the “EU”) (“Brexit”) on January 31, 2020, subject to a transitional period which ended December 31, |
2020. During the transitional period, although the United Kingdom was no longer a member state of the EU, it remained subject to |
EU law and regulations as if it were still a member state. The UK and the EU were to negotiate the terms of their future trading |
relationship during the transitional period. On December 24, 2020, negotiators representing the UK and EU came to a preliminary trade agreement (the "TCA"), which was |
subsequently ratified by the UK parliament on December 30, 2020. On May 1, 2021, the EU Parliament ratified the TCA and the TCA |
entered into force. Despite the existence of the TCA, many aspects of the trade relationship between the EU and the UK, including |
matters related to financial services, are subject to future negotiation. It is not possible to predict the nature of the future |
trading relationship between the EU and the UK due to political uncertainty. The unavoidable uncertainties and events related to Brexit could |
increase taxes and costs of business and cause volatility in currency exchange rates and interest rates. Brexit could adversely |
affect the performance of contracts in existence at the date of Brexit and European, UK or worldwide political, regulatory, economic |
or market conditions and could contribute to instability in political institutions, regulatory agencies and financial markets. |
Brexit could also lead to legal uncertainty and politically divergent national laws and regulations as a new relationship between |
the United Kingdom and EU is defined and the UK determines which EU laws to replace or replicate. Any of these effects of Brexit, |
and others that cannot be anticipated, could adversely affect the price of the Shares. The impact of Brexit on the Trust, the Trust’s |
service providers, and markets generally may not be fully known for some time. The Trust as well as the Sponsor and its service providers |
are vulnerable to the effects of public health crises, including the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major disruptions to economies |
and markets around the world, including the markets in which the Trust invests, and which has and may continue to negatively impact |
the value of certain of the Trust’s investments. Although vaccines for COVID-19 and variants thereof are becoming more widely |
available, the COVID-19 pandemic and impacts thereof may continue for an extended period of time and may vary from market to market. |
To the extent the impacts of COVID-19 continue, the Trust may experience negative impacts to its business that could exacerbate |
other risks to which the Trust is subject. Policy and legislative changes in countries around the world are affecting many aspects |
of financial regulation, and governmental and quasi-governmental authorities and regulators throughout the world have previously |
responded to serious economic disruptions with a variety of significant fiscal and monetary policy changes. Potential conflicts of interest may arise among the Sponsor |
or its affiliates and the Trust. Conflicts of interest may arise among the Sponsor and its affiliates, |
on the one hand, and the Trust and its Shareholders, on the other hand. As a result of these conflicts, the Sponsor may favor its |
own interests and the interests of its affiliates over the Trust and its Shareholders. As an example, the Sponsor, its affiliates |
and their officers and employees are not prohibited from engaging in other businesses or activities, including those that might |
be in direct competition with the Trust. Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments None. Item 2. Properties Not applicable. Item 3. Legal Proceedings None 33 Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosure Not applicable. 34 PART II Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related |
Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities The Trust was formed on September 1, 2009 (the “Date of |
Inception”) following an initial deposit of gold. The Trust’s Shares have been listed on the NYSE Arca under the symbol |
SGOL since its initial public offering on September 9, 2009. The following tables set out the range of high and low closing prices |
for the Shares as reported for NYSE Arca transactions for each of the quarters during the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020: Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2021: Quarter Ended High Low March 31, 2021 $ 18.73 $ 16.15 June 30, 2021 $ 18.34 $ 16.59 September 30, 2021 $ 17.56 $ 16.56 December 31, 2021 $ 17.91 $ 16.83 Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2020: Quarter Ended High Low March 31, 2020 $ 16.61 $ 14.12 June 30, 2020 $ 17.14 $ 15.31 September 30, 2020 $ 19.85 $ 17.05 December 31, 2020 $ 18.76 $ 17.08 The number of outstanding Shares of the Trust as of February |
24, 2022 was 143,900,000. Monthly Share Price The following table sets forth, for each of the most recent |
six months, the high and low closing prices of the Shares, as reported for NYSE Arca transactions. Month High Low August 2021 $ 17.46 $ 16.60 September 2021 $ 17.55 $ 16.56 October 2021 $ 17.34 $ 16.83 November 2021 $ 17.91 $ 17.00 December 2021 $ 17.56 $ 16.97 January 2022 $ 17.73 $ 17.16 35 Issuer Purchase of Equity Securities The Trust issues and redeems Shares only with Authorized Participants |
in exchange for gold, only in aggregations of 100,000 Shares, referred to as a Basket. A list of current Authorized Participants |
is available from the Sponsor or the Trustee and is included in Item 7 of this report. Although the Trust does not purchase Shares |
directly from its Shareholders, in connection with the redemption of Baskets, the Trust redeemed as follows during the years ended |
December 31, 2021 and 2020: Month Total number of Shares redeemed Average ounces of gold per share January 2021 800,000 0.0096 February 2021 1,200,000 0.0096 March 2021 8,200,000 0.0096 April 2021 2,300,000 0.0096 May 2021 — — June 2021 500,000 0.0096 July 2021 — — August 2021 700,000 0.0096 September 2021 900,000 0.0096 October 2021 — — November 2021 800,000 0.0096 December 2021 — — Total 15,400,000 0.0096 36 Month Total number of Shares redeemed Average ounces of gold per share January 2020 — — February 2020 — — March 2020 5,700,000 0.0096 April 2020 — — May 2020 — — June 2020 — — July 2020 — — August 2020 — — September 2020 1,300,000 0.0096 October 2020 1,900,000 0.0096 November 2020 1,200,000 0.0096 December 2020 2,400,000 0.0096 Total 12,500,000 0.0096 Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial |
Condition and Results of Operations This information should be read in conjunction with the financial |
statements and notes to the financial statements included with this report. The discussion and analysis that follows may contain |
statements that relate to future events or future performance. In some cases, such forward-looking statements can be identified |
by terminology such as “may,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” |
“believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential” or the negative of these terms or |
other comparable terminology. We remind readers that forward-looking statements are merely predictions and therefore inherently |
subject to uncertainties and other factors and involve known and unknown risks that could cause the actual results, performance, |
levels of activity, or our achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance, |
levels of activity, or our achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place |
undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The Trust undertakes no obligation |
to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof |
or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. 37 Introduction . The Aberdeen Standard Gold ETF Trust (the “Trust”) is a trust formed under the laws of the State of New York. The Trust does |
not have any officers, directors, or employees, and is administered by The Bank of New York Mellon (the “Trustee”) |
acting as trustee pursuant to the Depositary Trust Agreement (the “Trust Agreement”) between the Trustee and Aberdeen Standard |
Investments ETFs Sponsor LLC, the sponsor of the Trust (the |
“Sponsor”). The Trust issues Shares representing fractional undivided beneficial interests in its net assets. The assets |
of the Trust consist of gold bullion held by a custodian as an agent of the Trust and responsible only to the Trustee. The Trust is a passive investment vehicle and the objective |
of the Trust is for the value of each Share to approximately reflect, at any given time, the price of the gold bullion owned by |
the Trust, less the Trust’s liabilities (anticipated to be principally for accrued operating expenses), divided by the number |
of outstanding Shares. The Trust does not engage in any activities designed to obtain a profit from, or ameliorate losses caused |
by, changes in the price of gold. The Trust issues and redeems Shares only in exchange for gold, |
only in aggregations of 100,000 Shares effective November 4, 2019 (prior to November 4, 2019, the number of Shares that constituted |
a Basket for creations and redemptions was 50,000 Shares) or integral multiples thereof (each, a “Basket”), and only |
in transactions with registered broker-dealers or other securities market participants not required to register as broker-dealers, |
such as a bank or other financial institution, that (1) are participants in DTC and (2) have previously entered into an agreement |
with the Trust governing the terms and conditions of such issuance (such dealers, the “Authorized Participants”). As |
of the date of this annual report the Authorized Participants that have signed an Authorized Participant Agreement with the Trust |
are Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., Merrill |
Lynch Professional Clearing Corp., Mizuho Securities USA LLC, Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc., Scotia Capital (USA) Inc., UBS Securities |
LLC and Virtu Financial BD, LLC. Shares of the Trust trade on the NYSE Arca under the symbol |
“SGOL” Investing in the Shares does not insulate the investor from |
certain risks, including price volatility. The following table illustrates the movement in the net asset value (“NAV”) |
of the Shares against the corresponding gold price (per 1/100 of an oz. of gold) since incepti NAV per Share vs. Gold Price from the |
September 9, 2009 (the Date of Inception) to December 31, 2021 (1) (1) After the close of |
markets on November 1, 2019, the Trust effected a ten-for-one forward share split of the Shares issued by the Trust (the “Split”). |
The information presented attributable to periods prior to the Split has been adjusted to reflect the effects of the Split. The divergence of the NAV per Share from the gold price over |
time reflects the cumulative effect of the Trust expenses that arise if an investment had been held since inception. 38 Critical Accounting Policy The financial statements and accompanying notes are prepared |
in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The preparation of these financial |
statements relies on estimates and assumptions that impact the Trust’s financial position and results of operations. These |
estimates and assumptions affect the Trust’s application of accounting policies. Below we describe the valuation of gold |
bullion, a critical accounting policy that we believe is important to understanding the results of operations and financial |
position. In addition, please refer to Note 2 to the Financial Statements for further discussion of the Trust’s accounting policies. Valuation of Gold Gold is held by the Custodian on behalf of the Trust. Gold is |
recorded at fair value. The cost of gold is determined according to the average cost method and the fair value is based on the |
LBMA PM Gold Price. Realized gains and losses on transfers of gold, or gold distributed for the redemption of Shares, are calculated |
Subsets and Splits