Legal Center Risk
Commodity Trade Risk Notice
Effective: January 2026 Version 1.0 Qatar
Important: MoonGate provides administrative and commercial coordination services only and does not provide legal, financial, investment, banking, tax, or regulated brokerage services.
01 Purpose
This notice provides specific risk disclosures for parties engaging in commodity-related coordination through MoonGate's services. The commodity trade sector, particularly gold and petroleum products, is subject to elevated risks of fraud, non-performance, and regulatory exposure. All parties must read this notice carefully before proceeding.
02 Gold and Precious Metals
Transactions involving gold bullion, dore bars, gold dust, and related products carry the following elevated risks:
- Document fraud: Assay reports, mining licences, export permits, and certificates of origin are frequently forged or misrepresented in African and other emerging-market supply chains
- Ownership disputes: Proof of product does not confirm legal or unencumbered ownership
- LBMA non-compliance: Gold not processed through LBMA-approved refineries may be unsaleable to reputable buyers
- Chain-of-custody gaps: Gold supply chains from mining to refinery to export frequently lack independently verifiable documentation
- Cash-and-carry scams: Cash-and-carry gold procedures are a widely recognised fraud typology. MoonGate does not support such procedures
03 Petroleum Products
Transactions involving crude oil, AGO, PMS, Jet A1, and related products carry the following elevated risks:
- Availability claims: Claimed product volumes frequently exceed actual production or export capacity
- Mandate chain abuse: Multi-layer intermediary chains frequently misrepresent access to refinery sources or government mandates
- Q88/ICPO fraud: Standard petroleum trade documents can be issued without access to the underlying product
- Pricing risk: Prices must be referenced against current market benchmarks (Platts, ARGUS, NYMEX)
- Banking delays: Petroleum transactions frequently encounter banking compliance delays
04 Other Commodities
Trade in urea, sulfur, sugar, LNG, coal, and other commodities carries sector-specific risks including seasonal price volatility, logistics delays, port availability constraints, quality disputes, and regulatory trade barriers. Parties must conduct independent market and regulatory due diligence specific to each commodity.
05 What MoonGate Does Not Do
MoonGate does not:- Verify the physical existence of any commodity
- Guarantee product quality, purity, or quantity
- Certify the authenticity of any document submitted by a counterparty
- Accept liability for failed or non-performing commodity transactions
- Provide trade finance, payment guarantees, or letters of credit
- Support cash-and-carry, undocumented gold movement, or advance payment demands
06 Recommended Independent Steps
Before committing to any commodity transaction, parties are strongly recommended to:- Appoint an independent inspection company (SGS, Bureau Veritas, Intertek) to verify product
- Conduct independent legal review of all contracts and documents
- Verify all banking instruments directly with the issuing bank
- Conduct independent sanctions and AML screening of all parties
- Obtain independent commodity market pricing references
- Consult a licensed trade finance professional before committing to payment terms