"While we have not
acted on our silver investigation, I am hopeful and expect the
commission to do so in September or October," Bart Chilton, CFTC
commissioner, told Reuters.
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Posted: Tuesday , 07 Aug 2012
RENO (MINEWEB) -
U.S. Commodity Future Trading Commission member Bart Chilton said Monday a recent news media report that the CFTC is about to drop its four-year probe into U.S. silver markets "is not only premature, but inaccurate in several respects."
In statements to several publications, Chilton stressed, "Whenever the CFTC does take an action or actions related to our silver investigation, I am hopeful that we will do so in a fulsome and transparent manner."
In a story published Sunday, the Financial Times stated, "A four-year investigation into the possible manipulation of the silver markets looks increasingly likely to be dropped after US regulators failed to find enough evidence to support a legal case, according to three people familiar with the situation."
In 2008, the CFTC announced it was investigating "complaints of misconduct in the silver market," following a litany of complaints from a group of precious metals investors.
By Oct. 26, 2010, CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton issued a statement stressing, "I have been urging the agency to say something on the matter for months. The public deserves some answers to their concerns that silver markets are being, and have been manipulated."
"I believe that there have been repeated attempts to influence prices in the silver markets. There have been fraudulent efforts to persuade and deviously control that price," Chilton said at the time.
"Based on what I have been told by members of the public, and reviewed in publicly available documents, I believe violations to the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) have taken place in silver markets and that any such violation of the law in this regard should be prosecuted," he stressed in 2010.
In an interview with Christopher Barker of The Motley Fool published Monday, Chilton said, "I continue to believe, consistent with my previous statements and information from the public, that there have been devious efforts to moving the price of silver. There have also been silver and gold market anomalies outside of the silver investigation window that have raised, and continue to raise, market concerns."
One of the identified targets of the current CFTC silver market investigation has been JP Morgan Chase.
Quoting "people familiar with the situation," the FT claimed the CFTC staff still does not have sufficient evidence to bring a case. A CFTC spokesman told the FT, "The investigation has not reached its conclusion."
Previous CFTC silver investigations in 2004 and 2008 found no evidence of criminal activity in the silver markets.
Source: Chilton hopeful of CFTC silver probe action this year
