HSBC, Bank of Nova Scotia & Deutsche Bank Win Dismissal of Silver Price Manipulation Litigation

FindBullionPrices.com

The litigation began in 2014 with the government accusing the banks of being involved in a multi-bank trading conspiracy to manipulate the price of silver.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan dismissed the case against HSBC and Bank of Nova Scotia.

In 2016, Deutsche Bank settled with the government for $38M in 2016, and then another $130M in 2021.

In one of the settlements, it’s alleged that the price fixing by Deutsche began as early as 1999 and continued for more than a decade.

In the Deutsche Bank case, two traders were sentenced to prison terms for their involvement in the manipulation of silver prices. Their sentences were affirmed in January when their appeals to the Supreme Court were rejected. Each was sentenced to served only 1 year plus one day.

Saudi Arabia Taking Active Steps to End Petrodollar Dominance

FindBullionPrices.com

Saudi Arabia is showing the world that it is taking active steps to end the dollar’s hegemony across the global economy through a multitude of political and diplomatic moves and financial investments.

Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Group or simply referred to as Aramco, has announced the investment of more than $10 billion dollars to finance the construction of a new refinery and petrochemical complex. The construction is expected to take three years and when finished it will have the capacity to produce 300,000 barrels of oil per day.

The world’s largest oil exporting country has also opened dialog about joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional trade and security organization dominated by Russia and China.

In recent months, many more countries have expressed interest in joining the BRICS trade organization, which largely represents the global south in an effort to provide open trade and financial empowerment to developing nations.

CNBC reports that much of the rush to dump the dollar is largely seen as repercussions of the weaponization of the dollar to suit the foreign policy whims of the Biden administration, citing the financial sanctions imposed by the G7 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the decades of financial hardship placed on the people of Venezuela.

Central Banks continue to diversifying assets and dumping Treasury bonds and other dollar based assets in favor of commodities and growing currencies like the yuan. Globally, goods and services sold in dollars are going to get more expensive as the yuan and BRICS agreement picks up steam.

As the impact of the ongoing banking crisis begins to be felt at home, many Americans are shifting their priorities to protect their financial assets. This means we will continue to see a rapid shift of excess dollars into hard assets like gold, silver, land, ammunition and firearms and food in the coming months as more people prepare for further economic hardship.

COMEX silver and gold inventories are dropping as insiders ramp up the draining of physical precious metals from the vaults.

Some market analysts are predicting inflationary conditions to get worse as devaluing of fiat dollars accelerates following the Saudi decision to begin selling oil in other currencies. This is likely to lead to a ripple effect that will cascade to many other countries that rely on the dollar for settlement of global trade.

Last October, CEO of JP Morgan Chase Jamie Dimon, the nation’s largest bank, warned investors that the country is heading into a recession this year that will be far worse than any in recent memory.

In December, he reiterated his warning, adding that the main risks to the economy may come from abroad, citing threats to the fracturing supply chain, high inflation, rising prices of commodities and the ongoing proxy war with Russia.

Last year, numerous executives and precious metals traders were convicted from JP Morgan Chase, Deutsche Bank and other large institutions in a long-term, ongoing price manipulation scheme that was intended to trick the markets and investors into wrongly believing that price movements in the metals markets were organic.

JP Morgan Chase, often cited as to be too big to fail, is reportedly holding massive gold derivative short positions that are potentially greater than the bank’s total assets. If the price of gold continues to rise, JPM may be forced into a situation in which they will need additional leverage to cover the shorts.

Price manipulation, corruption and unfair representation in the LBMA and other G7 controlled commodities market were just some of the many grievances voiced by Russia last year during the announcement of the Moscow World Standard.

Casual investors are beginning to see that one of the best ways to protect their long-term financial assets from the Federal Reserve imposing a consumer CBDC is to diversify their cash holdings and other liquid assets into silver and gold bullion.

Mainstream media has been reporting on the rapid dollarization occurring with varying attempts to denounce genuine fears as a conspiracy theory.

The Chinese Renminbi or yuan is the currency that would benefit most from removing the dollar as the reserve currency.

JPM Now Sole Custodian of SLV ETF Holdings

FindBullionPrices.com

iShares Silver Trust (SLV) is a bullion backed electronically traded fund that seeks to reflect the performance of the price of silver. The fund originated in 2006 and holds physical silver bars held in custodial vaults.

In a statement released recently from JP Morgan, they currently hold 459,485,125.800 troy ounces of fine silver on behalf of the silver trust.

According to recent shareholder reports from Blackrock, the fund is backed by 458,887,710.00 troy ounces of silver which is 597,415.8 less than what is reported by JPM.

That amount is divided between three of JP Morgan Chase’s vault location in London and New York.

Earlier records have shown that the custody of the silver bars that back the SLV investment trust were spread out across various companies and vaulting locations for diversity of holdings.

Precious metals investors frequently buy shares in the SLV as a way to hedge other investments that are typically thought to be riskier endeavors. By moving all of the silver bars into the possession of a single custodian, the trust may be exposed to some additional risk.

The best way to use precious metals as a hedge is to buy physical gold and silver and store it in your home where you know it will be safe, secure and there when you need it most. As the saying goes, if you don’t hold it, you don’t own it.

Silver futures have been trading down roughly 3% since the start of the year.

Meanwhile, central banks continue stockpiling gold during the first few months of the year as more nations around the world are trying to join the BRICS treaty while oil is now trading in currencies other than the dollar.

China bought up an additional 15 tons of gold in January bringing their total central bank holdings to over 2,025 tons, according to reports from gold.org.

With more and more pressure from climate change advocates on US industries to reduce fossil fuel dependence, Saudi Arabia is expecting China and India to become the largest buyers of Middle East oil.

Over the last two decades, a greenwashing propaganda campaign has been thrust upon the country to label the use of fossil fuels as the leading cause of pollution and worldwide climate change.

In recent years, the rhetoric is amplified by activist infiltration of hedge funds and other large financial institutions under the guise of the ESG movement.

As dedollarization continues throughout the world, financial experts remain bullish that precious metals will remain the basis for much of world trade and gold will play a large role in the BRICS currency basket.

Gold at Home is Insurance Against the Next Bank Failure

FindBullionPrices.com

This week, customers of the failed bank woke up to find their money gone after SVB received accolades from mainstream media praising the bank as one of best.

Executives cashed out millions in recent weeks before SVG was taken over by regulators. Customers stood outside in long lines trying to get their money.

The failure began with a bank run withdrawal of $42 billion.

Gold is a proven hedge against inflation and a proven long term store of value. Having gold as part of your overall portfolio offers a defensive strategy strategy when there is a lot of uncertainty about other investments. In some cases, this now includes even holding cash in banks during high inflation period.

Yellen initially expressed “full confidence” in the government’s abilities to respond to the situation. While the White House released a statement affirming that it too is confident that regulators have the situation under control.

The latest moves have all the makings of a major bailout. The Fed’s new “emergency bank funding program” will make an unlimited amount of funds available to cover customer deposits.

Inflation continues to run hot and the Fed is likely to pause continuing rate hikes as trading has been halted by numerous banking stocks as the fallout from the SVB failure continue to spread.

Owning physical precious metals such as gold and silver is considered by financial experts as one of the best ways to safeguard some of your cash.

JP Morgan Chase Sues Former Exec Tied to Epstein’s Finances

FindBullionPrices.com

JP Morgan Chase is no stranger to being associated with criminal activity. The organization was fined billions of dollars following the 2008 collapse and recession. The massive multiyear investigations spanned across virtually all government agencies.

In the summer of 2022, the former executive in charge of Global Precious Metals Trading was sent to prison after being convicted along with a slew of others for participating in price fixing and manipulating metals prices for nearly a decade.

Late last year, Christopher Jordan, a trader from Credit Suisse who had previously worked at the PM trading desk, was found guilty of silver price manipulation after an eight-day trial.

JPMorgan agreed in 2020 to pay more than $920 million and admitted to wrongdoing to settle with the Justice Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over its traders’ conduct. At the time, the largest fine in banking history.

In December, the USVI filed a lawsuit claiming that JP Morgan Chase enabled the Epstein criminal enterprise by knowingly facilitating the disgraced financier’s payments to victims.

The lawsuit references an investigation by the DOJ that revealed that “JP Morgan knowingly, negligently, and unlawfully provided and pulled the levers… and was indispensable to the operation and concealment of the Epstein trafficking enterprise.”

JP Morgan has denied involvement and according to the NY Times has been fighting efforts to have Jamie Dimon disposed in other lawsuits related to the scandal.

In an attempt to distance itself from further entanglements with the scandal, JP Morgan has gone on an offensive tack and launched a lawsuit against former long-time executive Jes Staley over his ties to Epstein.

Claims from JP Morgan in court filings assert that Staley “affirmatively misrepresented the true facts of his and Epstein’s personal interactions and activities,” and “repeatedly provided misleading information” about Mr. Epstein to bank officials.

The lawsuit seeks to claw back Staley’s compensation from at least 2006 to 2013 totaling around $80 million and to distance the bank from liability related to the scandal. The claims in the suit includes references that suggest the exec may have had far more familiarity with Epstein’s activities than previously known.

News of the new lawsuit follows reports that courts are planning to unseal documents in other related Epstein cases that will name as many as 167 individuals closely associated with Epstein.

JP Morgan Chase is the world’s most dominant bullion bank with operations that span all facets of the industry from trading futures with hedge funds to transporting physical bullion around the world. They are one of the custodians for the ETF gold trust SPDR.

In January, Chase announced that they were evaluating getting into the settlement of precious metals trades in Zurich, a business historically dominated by UBS Group AG and the failing Credit Suisse Group AG.

Federal Reserve Votes to Raise Key Interest Rate .75%

FindBullionPrices.com

As expected, the Federal Open Market Committee hiked the benchmark interest rate by 3/4 of a percentage point at the end of their two day meeting.

Ongoing failed attempts by the Biden administration and Congress to get worries about the economy and a recession out of the minds of voters leading into the mid-term elections are failing miserably as prices of everyday basics continue to soar for many already living paycheck to paycheck. 

Industry leaders, including JP Morgan Chase CEO are predicting the economy may take a turn worse than a recession. Mass layoffs have already been announced at many large companies across a variety of industries.

Despite economic sanctions against Russia by the LBMA, world leaders from Brazil, India and other mineral rich developing nations are looking towards the Moscow World Standard as an alternative precious metals exchange. 

In response the economic sanctions, Russia took steps to back the ruble with gold earlier this year. Leaders of developing nations are seeing how returning to a gold-standard economy may help deflect repercussions of the recession and other issues facing the US and Europe.

Key Points

Top CEOs Issue Warning to Prepare to a Recession

FindBullionPrices.com

Top CEO’s of major global companies including JP Morgan, FedEx and others are sounding alarm bells as a warning to investors and shareholders of the tsunami of financial woes ahead.

Shares of FedEx sunk more than 20% following an announcement to expect lower earnings combined with a bleak forecast of a softening of global shipping volume.

During a recent CNBC appearance, FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam warned that the global economy may be entering into a worldwide recession.

A similar message came this week from the World Bank discussing some of the risks of a global recession occurring in 2023 with suggestions for policy changes to assist Central Banks.

CEOs, economists and bankers continue focusing on infinitesimal changes to key interest rates and macro-level KPIs to determine the direction of the economy while many have already been facing economic hardship brought on by the pandemic lockdowns, job losses and the failed economic policies of the myriad of career politicians in Washington, D.C.

Many hardworking Americans already live paycheck to paycheck. And many are already struggling with with inflation and huge increases in the price of groceries and gas.

With more than 42% of Americans having less than $1,000 in savings and another 10% with no savings at all, more than half of all households are at serious risk of facing significant financial hardship in the event of a job loss.

Across many metropolitan areas have risen drastically in recent years and recent reports from the Fed show the level of total household debt has reached more than $16 trillion, with sharp increases in mortgage, auto loans, and credit card balances.

Prepare For Financial Hardship with Silver Bars

In 1929, the key interest rate from the Federal Reserve was lowered to 6% in a failed attempt to boost the economy.

While the recent decade is in some ways reflective of what occurred leading up to the Great Depression, today’s circumstances have even the illustrious leader of JP Morgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, making starker suggestions that there’s potential for something worse than a recession coming, leading some media to suggest consumers prepare for very difficult economic times ahead.

Growing up during the Great Depression ingrained a generation with being frugal, the value of hard work, advancing through determination, and putting away savings in the form of hard money like gold and silver coins.
Roosevelts Executive Order 6102 that seized the gold from the economy was one of the efforts that helped recoup some of the debt brought on by the rampant spending and consumer debt that led to the Wall Street crash that began in September of 1929.

The themes of money, capitalism and corporate greed that caused the Joad’s tragedy and hardship in Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, have analogous comparisons for many families that are already struggling in the aftermath of pandemic.

The rampant spending from long-term career politicians in Washington has been another contributing factors leading to more than 1 million people exiting the Democratic Party and registering to vote Republican this year as voters have lost faith in the long-term bureaucratic swamp in Washington.

Lessons taught by the generations that lived through the great depression are valuable today. Using precious metals as a alternative to a savings account at a bank has become a popular way for many people to have some extra financial security.

Having even a small stack of silver or gold stored at home can provide a financial cushion to soften the blow when unexpected expenses pop up.

Prior to the pandemic there were a variety of low premium and offers from various online bullion dealers to buy silver and spot price.

With supply chain issues continuing to keep premiums higher than they had been in the past, it is still possible to find deals to buy both gold and silver at low premiums.

Some of the best values are typically found in larger sized generic silver bars such as 100 oz silver bars, 10 oz silver bars and silver kilos for those looking to maximize lower premiums.

Other sizes of silver bars, such as those weighing 1 troy ounce or 5 ounce silver bars will have higher per ounce premiums because the cost to manufacturer bars is similar regardless of the size of the bar.

Numerous Criminal Convictions Proves Precious Metals Price Manipulation

FindBullionPrices.com

As controversy and scandal continues to plague the LBMA and banks affiliated with the bullion trading cartel, the Eurasian Alliance is pushing for the creation of a new bullion trading system that offers a new pricing infrastructure to help facilitate emerging markets.

The most recent scandal at the LBMA includes the criminal conviction of former Board Member and JP Morgan Chase Managing Director Michael Nowak.

JP Morgan Chase is one of the largest private custodians of gold and other precious metals in the world for both private investors and many governments.

In managed vaults located in London, New York and Singapore, the bank reportedly holds gold valued in the tens of billions of dollars. (Bloomberg)

In 2020, as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department, JP Morgan Chase entered into an agreement with the government that they operated two distinct schemes of fraud.

The first fraud scheme that JP Morgan Chase admitted to operating involved tens of thousands of documented futures trades for silver and gold contracts across the various markets that JP Morgan Chase participated in.

The second fraud scheme involved thousands of instances of unlawful trading in the markets for U.S. Treasury futures contracts and in the secondary (cash) market for U.S. Treasury notes and bonds.

JP Morgan Chase paid a record fine of close to one billion dollars to the SEC to settle the case. Criminal charges were brought separately against numerous executives and directors, including Nowak, which led to his resignation as an LBMA Board Member.

During the criminal trial, prosecutors proved that Nowak, along with a group of other senior executive within the precious metals trading desk routinely spoofed orders and manipulated the prices of commodities across global trading markets. (BullionStar)

Nowak helped to provide the bank with significant profits by spoofing precious metals trades along with a handful of other senior executives who have also been convicted, pled guilty or are still awaiting trial.

Several investigations into the Precious Metals Trading Desk that began during the previous decade failed to find any wrongdoing at the time leading to some speculation about corruption within the ranks of the SEC and other regulatory agencies responsible for oversight of trading practices.

Since the year 2000, JP Morgan Chase has paid more than $36 billion in fines for violating banking laws in the United States. (GoodJobsFirst)

In recent years, JP Morgan Chase has admitted to being a criminal enterprise which has bilked millions from investors and governments by manipulating the prices of both commodities and US Treasury Bonds.

A similar spoofing ring was also operating at Deutsche Bank from at least 2007 until 2015 which resulted in criminal convictions and prison sentences for several. (Justice.gov)

Executives from Bank of America / Merrill Lynch were recently convicted in a separate spoofing scheme that operated from at least 2008 until 2014.

Numerous other traders and executives from various investment banks have pled guilty to similar charges related to manipulating the prices of gold, silver and platinum since 2015.

While numerous key individuals have been brought to justice, the leaders of these organizations continue to be rewarded with gigantic bonuses for operating criminal enterprises that helped to manipulate the world economy into a recession.

These are just a few examples of how widespread the corruption that has become integrated into the corporate bureaucracy that helps to justify the creation of an alternative market for precious metals.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Finance from Russia forwarded a proposed new international standard for the precious metals market that would normalize the functioning of the industry.

Moscow World Standard Driven by Corruption in the LBMA

FindBullionPrices.com

Gold reserves are a key component of central banking and are pivotal to the backing of and supporting a country’s currency, both for its domestic economy and foreign trade.


For decades, Russia has been increasing their gold reserves and central bank holdings.

The reported amounts of gold held in reserves have varied depending on the source.

The amount of gold actually held inside Fort Knox has been question asked by Congress many times. The answer is always the same. That’s classified.


Recent economic sanctions against Russia includes a ban from participating in the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA),  a global clearinghouse and trading association for large bullion transactions.


As early response to the economic war waged by the NATO allies, Russia began a program to buy gold from citizens in exchange for Rubles, effectively returning to a partial gold-standard.

The gold for Rubles program also helped to stabilize the value of the Russian Ruble in the international currency and exchange markets like FOREX.

The latest strategic move by Russia in the fight against the economic sanctions, Russia’s Finance Minister has announced that they will introduce a new “Moscow World Standard” as a new alternative to the LBMA.

According to Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, the Moscow World Standard is an attempt to stabilize and normalize the functioning of the precious metals industry.

Russia has positioned the new Moscow World Standard as an alternative to the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) whose credibility in the eyes of the world leaders has been rocked in recent years due to a number of scandals involving price manipulation.

The most recent scandal involves the criminal conviction of Michael Nowak, a prominent LBMA Board member who was outsted from his role with the LBMA following his arrest in 2019.

Nowak was also a top executive at JP Morgan Chase.

In his leadership role as the Managing Director of the Precious Metals Trading Desk, a key position overseeing global trading operations which led to billions in profits to both JP Morgan Chase’s top and bottom lines.

Nowak was charged under the RICO Act. The government had enough hard evidence to support a case that Nowak was the kingpin in charge of a wide-spread criminal organization operating inside the JP Morgan Chase for almost a decade.

Numerous other executives from inside the JP Morgan Chase Precious Metals Group have also been convicted or have pled guilty for their roles and received reduced sentences in exchange for their testimony against the others.

Separate, but Related criminal investigations against other bullion trading banks and trading practices have led to guilty pleas and massive fines in recent years.

Ample evidence exists to support the Russian position that the LBMA and members of the organization have been involved in widespread fraud, price manipulation and exploitation at all levels. The reality is that this type of corruption can and does have long-term effects on the ebbs and flows of the economies in many smaller countries where precious metals are mined, but also some of the other elements such as Lithium, Cobalt and Magnesium which are considered essential and “critical elements” for current battery technology.

Many of the smaller BRICS countries already look to China and Russia for guidance, leadership and assistance on many financial policy decisions due to long-standing and established trading relationships and other international treaties that exclude many NATO countries. As many leaders from these countries have likely encountered difficulties when working within the confines of the system set forth by the LBMA Board of Directors.

Russia has been suggesting greater transparency to some degree for leaders of BRICS nations, many of whom have significant mining operations that are controlled through large private banks and companies affiliated with the LBMA.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/jp-morgan-gold-trading-boss-former-lbma-board-member-found-guilty-us-jury
https://www.bullionstar.com/blogs/ronan-manly/lbma-board-member-jp-morgan-managing-director-charged-with-rigging-precious-metals/

https://www.sprottmoney.com/blog/The-Convicted-Criminals-of-JP-Morgan-Craig-Hemke-August-16-2022

JP Morgan Chase Precious Metals Traders in Decade Long Price Manipulation Scheme

FindBullionPrices.com

A multi-year investigation by the Justice Department has resulted in the convictions of two key leaders from the Precious Metals Trading Desk at JP Morgan Chase.

The two defendants, Michael Nowak and Gregg Smith were convicted by jury of wire fraud, attempted price manipulation, commodities fraud, and price spoofing involving a scheme that spanned for more than ten years and involved.

The crimes occurred during a span from at least 2008 until at least 2016. The convicted precious metals traders face more than 20 years in prison.

Several other traders involved in the scheme had previously plead guilty.

The guilty pleas and these most recent convictions provide proof to the long held belief that major Wall Street banks have been systematically manipulating the futures prices for profit.

JP Morgan Chase is also a major trustee and depository for major exchanges such as COMEX and others.

Evidence was presented during that trial that Smith placed an average of 20 spoofed orders a day over a 3 year period which accounted for 38,000 trades.

While some of the trades occurred prior to changes in the law in 2010, the Executives, Directors, Managers and Traders from the precious metals desk at JP Morgan Chase were directed employees to engage in illegal trading and price manipulation.

It’s difficult to determine the full extent of the scale of fraud based on the evidence that is publicly available, but it is reasonable to speculate that the overall value of the price manipulation fraud cost investors billions of dollars.

Details provided by the DOJ show that the convicted JP Morgan employees were well compensated for their crimes.

  • Defendant Smith earned $9,890,044 in total (salary plus bonus) compensation;
  • Defendant Nowak earned $23,700,074;
  • Defendant Ruffo earned $10,425,064;
  • Defendant Jordan earned $1,125,016 (2008–2009 only);
  • Donald Turnbull earned $12,727,350;
  • Stuart Piller earned $13,289,936;
  • Michel Simonian earned $4,515,111 (2008–2014 only);
  • John Edmonds earned $1,996,064 in total; and
  • Christian Trunz earned $2,720,049.

The systemic and widespread fraud at the JP Morgan Trading Desk is just one example of the corruption that continues to plague the finance industry which has likely been contributor to the creation of the most recent recession, bear market and related financial uncertainty in global financial markets.

The convictions and guilty please so far have shown that skirting the law has been part of the day-to-day business operations embedded within the workflow of the organization without any checks and balances.

According to public records, news articles and other information, JP Morgan Chase, under the leadership of Dimon has a long history of paying criminal penalties that have resulted from large scale crimes and financial fraud.

While Dimon himself has not been caught up directly in any of the recent criminal investigations, his compensation is tied directly to the performance of the company and he personally profited millions of dollars in bonuses during those years.

Investigations involving major Wall Street and Global Banks precious metals traders have resulted in criminal admissions and financial penalties for engaging in similar schemes.

The price manipulation schemes occurred in the paper trading markets which drives the physical prices of precious metals.