Filed pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3)
Registration Statement No. 333-237286
iShares® Gold Trust
Supplement dated April 7, 2020
to the
Prospectus dated March 19, 2020
This Supplement dated April 7, 2020 amends and supplements the prospectus dated March 19, 2020 (the “Prospectus”), and should be read in conjunction with, and must be delivered with, the Prospectus.
In the section "RISK FACTORS", the following risk factor is added at the beginning of page 11:
The Trust may be negatively impacted by the effects of the spread of illnesses or other public health emergencies on the global economy and the markets and service providers relevant to the performance of the Trust.
An outbreak of infectious respiratory illness caused by a novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 was first detected in China in December 2019 and has now been spread globally. This outbreak has resulted in travel restrictions, closed international borders, enhanced health screenings at ports of entry and elsewhere, disruption of and delays in healthcare service preparation and delivery, prolonged quarantines, cancellations, supply chain disruptions, and lower consumer demand, layoffs, defaults and other significant economic impacts, as well as general concern and uncertainty. The impact of this outbreak has adversely affected the economies of many nations and the entire global economy and may impact individual issuers and capital markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. Other infectious illness outbreaks that may arise in the future could have similar impacts. Public health crises caused by the outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally.
The COVID-19 outbreak will have serious negative effects on social, economic and financial systems, including significant uncertainty and volatility in the financial markets. For instance, the suspension of operations of mines, refineries and vaults that extract, produce or store gold, restrictions on travel that delay or prevent the transportation of gold, and an increase in demand for gold may disrupt supply chains for gold, which could cause secondary market spreads to widen and compromise our ability to make settlements on time. Any inability of the Trust to issue or redeem Shares or the Custodian or any sub-custodian to receive or deliver gold as a result of the outbreak will negatively affect the Trust's operations.
The duration of the outbreak and its effects cannot be determined with certainty. A prolonged outbreak could result in an increase of the costs of the Trust, affect liquidity in the market for gold as well as the correlation between the price of the Shares and the net asset value of the Trust, any of which could adversely affect the value of your Shares. In addition, the outbreak could also impair the information technology and other operational systems upon which the Trust’s service providers, including the Sponsor, the Trustee and the Custodian, rely, and could otherwise disrupt the ability of employees of the Trust’s service providers to perform essential tasks on behalf of the Trust. Governmental and quasi-governmental authorities and regulators throughout the world have in the past responded to major economic disruptions with a variety of fiscal and monetary policy changes, including, but not limited to, direct capital infusions into companies, new monetary programs and lower interest rates. An unexpected or quick reversal of these policies, or the ineffectiveness of these policies, is likely to increase volatility in the market for gold, which could adversely affect the price of the Shares.
Further, the outbreak could interfere with or prevent the operation of the electronic auction hosted by IBA to determine the LBMA Gold Price, which the Trustee uses to value the gold held by the Trust and calculate the net asset value of the Trust. The outbreak could also cause the closure of futures exchanges, which could eliminate the ability of Authorized Participants to hedge purchases of Baskets, increasing trading costs of Shares and resulting in a sustained premium or discount in the Shares. Each of these outcomes would negatively impact the Trust.
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Please retain this Supplement with your Prospectus for your reference.
IS-A-IAU-0420
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