Master Channel LLC
Master Channel, LLC (“Master Channel”) is a logistics company highly specialized in commodities finance and complex foreign trade, and specializes in the institutional import and export of precious metals.
Master Channel’s customer base is made up of precious minerals sources throughout the world seeking to enter the world market to maximize the return from their produced assets. Master Channel provides the knowledge and logistical resources to accomplish those goals by providing “supply side” contracts that aid their clients in achieving balanced cash flow with minimum client intervention and providing ease of operation by performing those upstream tasks that maximize the returns to downstream participants.
Master Channel, including its Board of Directors and entire staff, is highly committed as an institution to comply with all local and international guidelines that have been established to prevent and control money laundering, terrorism financing, and human abuse by conducting responsible supply chain management. To this end, it has established policies and procedures adjusted to the specific risk profile of its client’s products, services, and geographical locations and minimizes/eliminates upstream risk to its refiners and financial partners.
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Due
Diligence
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Regulatory
Compliance
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Exceptional
Security
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Logistical
Channel
Due Diligence
MMaster Channel secures its precious metals following the guidelines of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas. In particular, Master Channel follows the guidelines established in Annex II as approved by the LBMA. Master Channel follows all rules and regulations required under the US Act of Congress; Dodd-Frank Section 1502. Our supply partners are required to complete all of the information within extensive due diligence and also must allow the Master Channel in-country assessment team to visit and verify information as they require.
The policies defined here within establish the criteria that are to be followed by not only the Master Channel risk assessment team and all Master Channel personnel, but also within each of its clients that do not already have their own risk mitigation due diligence rules and procedures. Therefore, these guidelines will be considered as the minimal framework under which Master Channel will apply the principles of “Know Your Customer” or ‘KYC.’ It entails reasonably knowing your customers with whom a contractual or business relationship is held and identifying key business relationships and methods of safeguarding of those business relationships. It entails maintaining a clear understanding of modern day rules as applied to the management of precious commodity transactions and risk management to alleviate money laundering and terrorist forces using precious metals as a base of finance for their activities.
Solid operating policies are developed and imbedded in detailed processes and procedures for each business issue as revealed during the due diligence review.
For Master Channel’s success in the implementation of the Know Your Customer, Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Combat the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) policies, the cooperation of all of its team members and participating customers is required. Therefore, it is important to be diligent both when engaging a new client as well as when examining every transaction.
Regulatory Compliance
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Recognizing those risks of significant adverse impact which may be associated with extracting, trading, handling, and exporting minerals from conflict-affected and high-risk areas, and recognizing the responsibility to respect human rights and not contribute to conflict; as a supplier we commit to adopt and incorporate in contracts and/or agreements with our sources all policies that comply with United Nations sanctions and resolutions, and existing domestic laws. We refrain from any action in the fulfillment of our supply contracts that contributes to a) the financing of conflict, b) the facilitation of commission by any party of any form of torture, cruel, or inhumane treatment, c) any form of forced or compulsory labor, d) child labor as defined under domestic law, e) human rights violations, f) crimes against humanity, g) war crimes, and h) direct or in-direct support to non-state armed groups involved in the extraction, transport, trade, handling, or export of precious metals.
No product delivered by suppliers to Master Channel shall be from minerals made available by making payments to, or otherwise providing logistical assistance or equipment to, non-state or armed groups who illegally control mines, control transportation routes, participate in the trading of precious metals, illegally tax or extort money or minerals at points of access to mine sites or along transportation lines, or illegally tax or extort intermediaries.
With this objective, compliance is a very important subject addressed throughout Master Channel’s different strategic offerings and tactical applications. Compliance is identified as one of the key controls which allows Master Channel to mitigate inherent risks to its business and, at the same time, comply with regulations related to the prevention of money laundering and terrorism financing crimes throughout the world and reduce the incidence of human abuse in conflict-affected and high-risk geographical areas.
Exceptional Security
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We recognize the role of public or private security forces to maintain security of mine premises, equipment, and personnel and to the maintaining of the rule of law including safeguarding human rights while protecting mine sites and transportation routes from interference while conducting legitimate extraction and trade. We support steps by our suppliers and civil authorities to ensure that individuals or units of security that have been responsible for gross human rights abuses are not hired as security for any product delivered to Master Channel under our contracts. We will support efforts to avoid or minimalize the exposure of vulnerable groups of artisanal miners extracting precious metals through small-scale mining to adverse impacts associated with the presence of security forces, public or private, on mine sites where precious metals are extracted to fulfill Master Channel supply contracts.
We will not offer, promise, give or demand bribes to conceal or disguise the origin of precious metals delivered to Master Channel or to misrepresent taxes, fees, and royalties paid to governments for the purpose of extraction, handling, or transportation of precious metals or which could contribute to money laundering from the process of delivering precious metals to Master Channel under our contract.
Logistical Channel
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Master Channel has developed a precious metals sourcing program based on the format of a supply contract rather than a purchase and sale contract. We are providing a logistical “channel” for African mines to transport their production into the world market. We produce the logistical resources, financing, and upstream contracts to handle their production at the pace they wish to ship. A supply source can ship weekly, bi-weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly depending on their cash flow budgets and supply forecasts.
