SILVER Act
- Bill Number
- S. 4621
- Origin Chamber
- Senate
- Congress
- 119th Congress, Session 2
- Policy Area
- Finance and Financial Sector
- Status
- Introduced
- Latest Action
- 2026-05-21: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
- Last Updated
- 2026-06-26T14:51:22Z
AI-Generated Summary
Purpose This legislation amends the Commodity Exchange Act to reduce systemic risk associated with the 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 systemically important derivatives clearing organizations (DCOs) that handle physically deliverable precious metals contracts to develop and publish objective, transparent criteria for selecting storage depositories, including a formal application process for prospective vaults.
- Mandates that such DCOs consider factors including geographic diversity, competition, risk management, storage costs, and systemic risk implications when approving depositories, with an emphasis on the public interest in increased liquidity, market resiliency, and cost efficiency.
- Requires selection of at least two approved depositories in each of the four major U.S. time zones (Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific).
- Directs DCOs to periodically assess ease of access for market participants to physical settlement regardless of location within the United States.
- Incorporates approval processes for metal service providers, such as depositories, into existing rules of practice and trade standards.
Significant Changes to Existing Law The bill modifies Section 5b(c)(2) of the Commodity Exchange Act by adding geographic concentration risks to required risk management considerations and introducing new approval and selection obligations specifically for precious metals depositories used by systemically important DCOs. It also expands periodic assessment requirements and integrates depository approval conditions into participant and service provider rules.
Potential Impacts
- On government agencies: Increases oversight responsibilities for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in reviewing DCO compliance with expanded selection and geographic standards.
- On citizens and market participants: May lower storage costs, improve liquidity, and broaden access to precious metals markets through additional vault options.
- On international relations: No direct effects specified, though enhanced domestic market resilience could indirectly support global metals trading stability.
Main Stakeholders Affected
- Systemically important derivatives clearing organizations and precious metals exchanges.
- Precious metals depository operators and vault providers seeking approval.
- Market participants, including traders, investors, and commercial users of futures contracts.
- The Commodity Futures Trading Commission as the primary regulator.
Notable Legal, Constitutional, or Political Implications The Act references definitions from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and imposes new procedural and substantive requirements on designated financial market utilities. It does not alter constitutional authority but expands federal regulatory standards for commodity storage infrastructure to address concentration risks.
This summary was generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies. Refer to the official source document for the authoritative text.
Sponsor
Cosponsors (3)
Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine [D-NV], Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID], Sen. Rosen, Jacky [D-NV]
Recent Actions
- 2026-05-21: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
- 2026-05-21: Introduced in Senate
Bill Versions
- System Integrity through Licensed Vault Expansion and Resilience Act — issued 2026-05-21 — PDF (7 pages)