U.S. Senators File National Security Amendment Targeting Dangerous Gold Market Concentration
WASHINGTON, D.C. / ACCESS Newswire / June 25, 2026 / A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators sponsoring the System Integrity through Licensed Vault Expansion and Resilience (SILVER) Act filed the legislation as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027 (NDAA), further elevating the issue of geographic concentration within the United States’ precious metals settlement infrastructure as a matter of urgent national security.
Supported by a broad industry coalition that includes mints, refineries, depositories, dealers, miners, banks, logistics companies, risk managers, and industry trade groups, the bipartisan and bicameral SILVER Act (SB 4621 and H.R. 8007)would enhance financial and national security resilience by ending the extraordinary concentration of exchange-approved depositories for gold, silver, platinum, and palladium in and around New York City.
The geographic concentration of America’s publicly traded precious metals is viewed not only as anticompetitive but also highly dangerous since it creates a single point of failure for a market that plays a critical role in price discovery, physical settlement, and the functioning of U.S. and global markets.
Other Markets Evolved, But Gold Market Remains Mired in 1970s Thinking
The SILVER Act targets archaic policies that date back to the 1970s and that leave financial markets and defense supply chains severely vulnerable to disruptions such as natural disasters, infrastructure failures, cyberattacks, terrorist attacks, and other public emergency situations.
Even before Senators Jim Risch (R-ID) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) introduced their bipartisan legislation last month, concerns about the extreme concentration of exchange-approved precious metals depositories to only the New York area had already drawn scrutiny from federal regulators.
Earlier this year, Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Michael Selig applauded the introduction of the SILVER Act by House sponsors and offered to work with Congress on the bill.
Government Privileges for SIFMUs Create Risk Mitigation Duties
Proponents note that the risks identified are particularly significant because the primary U.S. futures exchange is designated by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) as a Systemically Important Financial Market Utility (SIFMU).
Institutions receiving SIFMU designations are given special government privileges due to their importance to the stability of the U.S. financial system, including access to Federal Reserve services and emergency liquidity facilities. But with those benefits come heightened responsibilities.
