dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

Banks Win Dismissal of U.S. Silver Price-Fixing Litigation + BlackRock increases position in PSLV by 124.35%-and background on SLV/PSLV and who is potentially shorting AG Futures on the COMEX

May22, 2023

A U.S. judge on Monday dismissed long-running litigation by investors who accused HSBC Holdings Plc and Bank of Nova Scotia of conspiring to fix silver prices. U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan said the investors lacked legal standing to pursue federal antitrust claims under the Sherman Act, or claims under the federal Commodity Exchange Act. Investors had accused HSBC, Scotiabank and Deutsche Bank AG of manipulating silver prices from 2007 to 2013, saying they had "smoking gun" evidence of a price-fixing conspiracy among those banks and several other silver market makers. The litigation began in 2014, and Deutsche Bank settled for $38 million two years later. In a 24-page decision, Caproni found the investors unable to trace their losses to banks' alleged effort to depress the Fix, which set benchmark prices for silver bars, and trade derivatives based on advance knowledge of the Fix price. Caproni said the investors did not show it was "plausible, as opposed to merely possible" that distorted pricing affected their trades, and said any damages were "too speculative." The judge also said the investors were not "efficient enforcers" of their private antitrust claims, unlike people who might have sold silver at the Fix price. Lawyers for the investors did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The banks and their lawyers did not immediately respond to similar requests. Caproni dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought again. She had in 2016 let the case proceed, but said recent decisions by the federal appeals court in Manhattan have clarified when private plaintiffs can bring antitrust and commodities act claims. The cases is In re London Silver Fixing Ltd Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 14-md-02573.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/banks-win-dismissal-us-silver-price-fixing-litigation-2023-05-22/

Blackrock bought PSLV 124.35% increase (Sprott Physical Silver)

This (above) came out on Friday from a variety of sources and the owner/sponsor of the SLV ETF is Blackrock

BlackRock Inc. reports 124.35% increase in ownership of PSLV / Sprott Physical Silver Trust - Units

The Sprott Physical Silver Trust (PSLV) is a closed-end trust that invests in unencumbered and fully-allocated London Good Delivery (“LGD”) silver bars.

https://sprott.com/investment-strategies/physical-bullion-trusts/silver/

There are no options traded on this (PSLV) at all and Blackrock is the custodian of SLV…if you look at the daily COMEX reports it has always been upwards of 10 commercial banks/institutions trading back and forth with each other (buying and selling)….there is now 2 of those commercial banks left-Wells Fargo and JP Moran and a hedge fund

Here is the daily look

https://www.cmegroup.com/delivery_reports/MetalsIssuesAndStopsReport.pdf

Here is the YTD-scroll down to page 16 for Silver data

https://www.cmegroup.com/delivery_reports/MetalsIssuesAndStopsYTDReport.pdf

https://www.cmegroup.com/clearing/operations-and-deliveries/nymex-delivery-notices.html

You can see the huge decrease in participants (simply put the COMEX is on life-support and May is one of the biggest delivery nonths of the year…this year it is the lowest on record-so far) as the amount of metal that is available for delivery has decreased drastically since the OG Silver Squeeze and on into this year…..so there is someone in there who is also shorting the other side of this process (see below) and since Blackrock reported a huge increase in a physical ETF could it be using that (PSLV) as a hedge against it's speculated huge short position??

Certainly it would need deep pockets that only they could provide. This is just speculation however it certainly would be no surprise to see the largest issuer of ETFs be selected to short Ag and take over from the commercial banks (who have largely vacated this arena on that last dip to just over $20 in )

from April 27th 2023

Ted Butler: The SEC and Black Rock blink on SLV

The big news is last night's release of the new short report on stocks, which indicated a massive 25 million share reduction in the short position on SLV, the big silver ETF, as of the close of business April 14. The short position on SLV fell from 41.5 million shares to 16.3 million shares, the largest by-monthly drop (60%) in history, to the lowest short position on SLV in more than two years – back to the time in Feb 2021 when BlackRock (the trust's sponsor) amended the trust's prospectus to include new risk factors warning short sellers to beware of shorting shares due to serious concerns of the availability of physical silver bullion. So, the immediate issue is what was behind the sudden large reduction in the short position on SLV (after all, 20 to 25 million ounces of silver is a big deal) and why would I conclude it involved any “blinking” by the Securities & Exchange Commission (the nation’s securities regulator) and BlackRock (the largest asset manager in the world)? As subscribers know, I have dealt with the issue of the short position on SLV extensively over the years, particularly since the short position rose to record levels (60 million shares) last summer and with special emphasis starting in January of this year upon the occasion of a sudden and counterintuitive deposit of more than 20 million ounces of silver into the trust (which I linked to the short position). I have always considered the short position in SLV to be fraudulent and manipulative, due to the unique nature of this security which promises an ounce of silver standing behind each outstanding share. I’m convinced short sellers on SLV short the shares for the precise purpose of evading depositing the required metal to avoid putting upward price pressure on silver and the shares of SLV. That’s why I have never hesitated in lodging formal complaints with the S.E.C. and BlackRock whenever the short position on SLV rose aggressively. Between August and November of last year, I complained five times to the S.E.C. as the short position grew to record levels. Since the short position subsided thereafter, I suspended my complaints. I complained for a sixth time on March 27, making my letter to S.E.C. chair Gary Gensler public for the first time, when the short position on SLV suddenly surged again to 47.5 million shares.

moar

https://silverseek.com/article/sec-and-blackrock-blink-slv

BlackRock Takes Big Stake In Sprott Silver PSLV ETF (20.6 million shares)

https://silverseek.com/article/blackrock-takes-big-stake-sprott-silver-pslv-etf-206-million-shares

Cap#2

https://screener.fidelity.com/ftgw/etf/goto/snapshot/ownership.jhtml?symbols=PSLV

Ownership: PSLV SPROTT PHYSICAL SILVER TRUST

https://screener.fidelity.com/ftgw/etf/goto/snapshot/ownership.jhtml?symbols=PSLV

BlackRock Institutional Trust Company N.A. - iShares Silver Trust

https://fintel.io/ss/us/slv

This links below on Private Advisors has background on SLV iShares-SLV information you'll see that Virtu Financial (the market rigger extrordinaire) is an authorized participant (Can create or redeem shares.)

>>>/qrb/135209 Private Advisors Group sold $1.2B in SLV-Q1 2022-after buying roughly same amount in Q4 2021

>>>/qrb/143840, >>>/qrb/143848 The 'Silver Whale' Story: What is it attempting to address IF it is true and some background on some other big non-physical transactions (at least one that may not be at some point-BofA/JP Morgan lease of phyzz)

>>>/qrb/136105, >>>/qrb/136107, >>>/qrb/136109 CFTC Orders Glencore to Pay $1.186 Billion for Manipulation and Corruption + Glencore co-founder Marc Rich/James Comey Clinton Foundation and Market Rigger Virtu Financial all connected

>>>/qrb/148613 SLV iShares Short interest (record level) and COMEX/LBMA Vault Holdings-draining rapidly

Without Registering as Stock Exchanges, Citadel Securities and Virtu Financial Account for More Stock Trading than the New York Stock Exchange

https://8kun.top/qrb/res/131807.html#q131956

Here is just the latest example of who needs Ag becasue this doesn't even include all the tech companies, Elon Musk's demand at Tesla, Solar City and Space X..there is quite an appetite for it

China's solar power capacity surges 36.6% YoY in Jan-April 2023

https://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/sustainability-news/china-s-solar-power-capacity-surges-36-6-yoy-in-jan-april-2023-287727-newsdetails.htm