SILVER Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8007 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8007

   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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 19, 2026

 Mr. Fulcher (for himself and Mr. Harris of North Carolina) introduced
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 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 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
                                        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) conditions for applying to,
                                and receiving approval from, the
                                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>