SILVER Act
- Bill Number
- H.R. 8007
- Origin Chamber
- House
- Congress
- 119th Congress, Session 2
- Policy Area
- Finance and Financial Sector
- Status
- Introduced
- Latest Action
- 2026-03-19: Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
- Last Updated
- 2026-06-26T14:51:15Z
AI-Generated Summary
Purpose The legislation amends the Commodity Exchange Act to reduce systemic risk from geographic concentration of precious metals storage while promoting greater diversity, competition, and liquidity in depositories used for futures contracts involving gold, silver, platinum, and palladium.
Key Provisions
- Requires derivatives clearing organizations to include geographic concentration risks for precious metals depositories in their risk management programs.
- Mandates that these organizations develop and publish objective, transparent criteria for selecting and approving precious metals depositories, along with a formal application process.
- Directs selection decisions to consider factors including geographic diversity, competition, risk management, storage costs, and systemic risk implications.
- Requires approval of new depositories to support public interest goals such as increased liquidity, market resiliency, and cost efficiency while maintaining security standards.
- Establishes a geographical requirement that each derivatives clearing organization select at least two qualifying depositories in each of the Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones.
- Adds obligations to periodically assess ease of access for physical settlement of commodities across U.S. locations to ensure system availability.
- Requires inclusion of application and approval conditions for metal service providers (such as depositories) in organizational rules and rule enforcement programs.
Significant Changes to Existing Law The bill modifies Section 5b(c)(2) of the Commodity Exchange Act by adding explicit geographic diversity mandates, formal selection processes, and time-zone distribution requirements for precious metals depositories. It expands risk considerations and oversight duties for derivatives clearing organizations beyond prior standards.
Potential Impacts
- On government agencies: Increases oversight responsibilities for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in reviewing and enforcing new depository selection and risk management practices.
- On citizens: May lower storage costs and improve market access for investors and participants in precious metals futures, while enhancing overall market liquidity and resilience.
- On international relations: No direct effects identified, though changes could indirectly influence global precious metals supply chains and pricing by expanding U.S. storage options.
Main Stakeholders Affected
- Derivatives clearing organizations responsible for clearing precious metals futures.
- Existing and prospective precious metals depositories and vault operators.
- Market participants including traders, investors, and commercial users of futures contracts.
- Precious metals exchanges and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as regulator.
Notable Legal, Constitutional, or Political Implications The amendments impose new federal regulatory standards on private clearing organizations, potentially affecting their operational flexibility and contractual relationships with storage providers. The time-zone distribution requirement represents a prescriptive approach to market structure that could prompt legal challenges regarding regulatory scope under the Commodity Exchange Act.
This summary was generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies. Refer to the official source document for the authoritative text.
Sponsor
Cosponsors (4)
Rep. Harris, Mark [R-NC-8], Rep. Lee, Susie [D-NV-3], Rep. Rose, John W. [R-TN-6], Rep. McDowell, Addison P. [R-NC-6]
Recent Actions
- 2026-03-19: Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
- 2026-03-19: Introduced in House
- 2026-03-19: Introduced in House
Bill Versions
- System Integrity through Licensed Vault Expansion and Resilience Act — issued 2026-03-19 — PDF (6 pages)