PAMP Suisse – A leading precious metal brand
A world-leading Swiss precious metals refinery since 1977
The Swiss company PAMP Suisse is one of the world’s best-known refineries. Founded in 1977 in Castel San Pietro, in the canton of Ticino, the company gained LBMA approval just a few years later to facilitate international precious metal trading. PAMP is now among the world’s largest manufacturers of minted gold, silver, platinum and palladium bars, whose outstanding quality and sophisticated designs are immediately recognisable. The refinery produces cast precious-metal bars for private individuals and major institutional clients, and also supplies bars to international mints.
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An extract from the PAMP story
The manufacturing company “Produits Artistiques Métaux Précieux”, usually abbreviated to PAMP Suisse, was founded in 1977 in Ticino, Switzerland. Its initial production consisted mainly of small minted gold bars, primarily sold in the Middle East markets. Having established the financial company MKS Schweiz SA in Geneva in 1979, the Lebanese businessman Mahmoud Kassem Shakarchi then became a PAMP shareholder in 1981. PAMP soon began to experience exponential growth, thanks to a strong demand for its high-quality bullion products. Under Shakarchi’s leadership, MKS and PAMP rapidly acquired a global reputation as respected providers of precious metals products and services.
In November 2021, PAMP and MKS merged to form a major precious metals trading house, henceforth known as MKS PAMP SA. This dual blend of company attributes successfully combined procurement, delivery, finishing, manufacturing and trading, enabling the new group to create a strong and sustainable corporate identity while also increasing its global reach. The PAMP product brand – now an integral part of the MKS PAMP product range – proudly stands as a symbol of Swiss quality and excellence. PAMP supplies products to prestigious wholesale clients such as the US Mint, the Royal Canadian Mint, the British Royal Mint, and the Austrian Mint.
Explaining the essential elements of the company’s values shared by all employees and actively practised across all business sectors, Phaedon Stamatopoulos, Managing Director of MKS PAMP Ticino since August 2022, says: “As an independent family business, our products and services are underpinned by our expertise, professional rigour and adherence to the highest quality standards, and sustained by our continued commitment to ethical practices.”
International traders across all major gold markets
PAMP has been an accredited London Bullion Market (LBMA and LPPM) trader since 1987. The company has also traded via the CME Group (COMEX) in New York since 1989, at the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) since 1990, and at the Dubai Multi Commodities Center (DMCC) since 2005.
This precious metal company is also a participating member of various market associations – a commitment by which it seeks to upgrade industry standards and bring about improvements in the precious metals market.
Products for wholesalers and for the end-customer market
Under the PAMP brand logo, MKS PAMP produces cast and minted bars made from gold and white precious metals. These are available in many denominations from as little as 0.3 grams up to 1,000 grams. In addition to these end-customer products, the company also produce a range of Good Delivery bars for central banks and other wholesalers: 400-ounce gold bars and 1,000-ounce silver bars, as well as platinum and palladium bars of 1 to 6 kilograms.
PAMP’s popular minted products for private buyers include iconic motif bars depicting Fortuna, the ancient goddess of luck (also known as Lady Fortuna) as well as the company’s Lunar Calendar Series featuring designs inspired by the repeating cycle of the Chinese lunar calendar. In addition, small gold bars each weighing one gram are available as Multigrams: special blister packs containing up to 25 snap-off mini bars which can be individually removed. Minted bars are mostly packaged as specially designed CertiPAMP blister cards, which also incorporate a certificate of authenticity.
All products are marked with the company’s signature ingot logo. This consists of the four letters PAMP, each of which appear as individual embossed stamps. The Suisse lettering is added below in capital letters, and the design also incorporates the serial number and the official test stamp “ESSAYEUR FONDEUR”. The information concludes with a statement confirming the weight unit and fineness, which for gold bars is always 999.9/1000.
PAMP Suisse precious metal refinery: An overview
- PAMP was founded in 1977 as a precious metals production facility called Produits Artistiques Métaux Précieux. The brand name is derived from an abbreviation of this title.
- Since 2021, the company has been part of MKS SA (Mahmoud Kassem Shakarchi), a precious metals trading house which has existed since 1979, and has been a PAMP shareholder since 1981.
- The refinery has accreditation at all major gold trading centres worldwide and trades globally in precious metal bars made from gold, silver, platinum and palladium.
- High-quality cast and minted ingots are produced for wholesalers, and for the end-customer market. PAMP bars with a Lady Fortuna motif and Multigram bars available in blister packs are popular products recognised around the world.
- PAMP also produces a range of ingots for internationally renowned mints.
