Full Text
Official text as published. Use Ctrl+F / Cmd+F to search within the document.
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4621 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4621
To amend the Commodity Exchange Act to reduce systemic risk while
increasing geographical diversity and competition with respect to
depositories for the storage of precious metals, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 21, 2026
Mr. Risch (for himself and Ms. Cortez Masto) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Commodity Exchange Act to reduce systemic risk while
increasing geographical diversity and competition with respect to
depositories for the storage of precious metals, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``System Integrity through Licensed
Vault Expansion and Resilience Act'' or the ``SILVER Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Precious metals exchanges currently require physically
traded metals to be stored within close proximity to New York
City.
(2) Geographic concentration creates systemic risk
vulnerabilities, reduces available liquidity, and increases the
cost to market participants.
(3) Recent liquidity events in global metals markets
underscore the need to minimize regulatory barriers that reduce
the available supply of metals to the publicly traded
marketplace.
(4) Notwithstanding the current limited supply, the
security standards of existing vaults supporting publicly
traded exchanges are outstanding and have enhanced the
confidence of market participants.
(5) Market liquidity and participant confidence will be
enhanced by the addition of storage vaults of relative scale
and commercial importance in the marketplace.
(6) Additional supply in lower-cost markets, especially
markets that are near hubs of precious metals activity and
interstate transportation networks, would also reduce storage
costs, enhance competition in the storage marketplace, and
promote greater market access to investors.
(7) It is in the public interest for systemically important
financial market utilities to provide a clear and transparent
selection process for precious metals storage facilities within
their network.
SEC. 3. PRECIOUS METALS DEPOSITORIES USED IN CONNECTION WITH FUTURES
CONTRACTS.
Section 5b(c)(2) of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 7a-
1(c)(2)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (E)(vii), by inserting ``, including
risks related to the geographic concentration of depositories
for the storage of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium
(referred to in this paragraph as `precious metals'),'' after
``clause (vi)'';
(2) in subparagraph (F)--
(A) by redesignating clause (iii) as clause (iv);
and
(B) by inserting after clause (ii) the following:
``(iii) Approval of precious metals
depositories.--
``(I) In general.--A derivatives
clearing organization that clears
agreements, contracts, transactions, or
swaps that can result in the physical
delivery of precious metals and is a
designated financial market utility (as
defined in section 803 of the Dodd-
Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer
Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5462))
(referred to in this paragraph as a
`systemically important derivatives
clearing organization') shall--
``(aa) develop, publish,
and employ objective and
transparent criteria in
evaluating and selecting
depositories for the storage of
precious metals used in
connection with a contract of
sale of a commodity for future
delivery; and
``(bb) provide a formal
process for those depositories
to apply for that selection.
``(II) Selection factors.--In
selecting depositories under subclause
(I), a systemically important
derivatives clearing organization
shall--
``(aa) assess and account
for, among other factors,
geographic diversity,
competition, risk management,
storage costs to members and
participants, and systemic risk
implications; and
``(bb) approve new
depositories in the context of
a public interest in increased
geographic diversity, increased
liquidity, market resiliency,
market access, competition, and
cost efficiency, consistent
with appropriate security and
quality standards.
``(III) Geographical requirement.--
``(aa) In general.--A
systemically important
derivatives clearing
organization shall select at
least 2 depositories described
in subclause (I) in each time
zone described in item (bb).
``(bb) Time zone.--A time
zone referred to in item (aa)
is each of the following:
``(AA) Eastern
time.
``(BB) Central
time.
``(CC) Mountain
time.
``(DD) Pacific
time.'';
(3) in subparagraph (I)--
(A) in clause (ii)(II), by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(B) in clause (iii), by striking the period at the
end and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(iv) periodically assess the ease of
access for market participants with respect to
the physical settlement of any commodity,
regardless of the geographic location within
the United States, to ensure system
availability and resiliency.'';
(4) in subparagraph (L)(iii)--
(A) in subclause (IV), by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(B) by redesignating subclause (V) as subclause
(VI); and
(C) by inserting after subclause (IV) the
following:
``(V) in the case of a systemically
important derivatives clearing
organization, conditions for applying
to, and receiving approval from, the
systemically important derivatives
clearing organization as a metal
service provider, such as a depository
for the storage of precious metals;
and''; and
(5) in subparagraph (N)(i), by inserting ``, including with
respect to the approval of a metal service provider, such as a
depository for the storage of precious metals'' after
``trade''.
<all>