Bart Chilton: Silver Investigation to Conclude by September if Not Sooner

[southfork]

http://www.silverdoctors.com/bart-ch...if-not-sooner/

Courtesy the other site.K

The Doc contacted CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton this week regarding the delay by the CFTC and the SEC in enacting position limits in silver, as well as the CFTC’s silver manipulation investigation, which is now in it’s 4th year.

As the CFTC’s Commissioner’s have recently come under extreme criticism by the silver community, with long-time supporter Ted Butler finally throwing in the towel last week and calling for Chilton and Gary Gensler’s dismissal, we offered Bart the opportunity to speak with The Doc to update readers on the progress of both the silver investigation as well as the implementation of position limits.

Commissioner Chilton has deferred a live interview until the silver investigation is concluded ‘in the next 2-3 months if not sooner‘, but has allowed SilverDoctors to publish his response regarding these inquiries.

Bart Chilton: Silver Investigation to Conclude in 2-3 Months

Doc, Thank you for the invitation, but I must decline a verbal interview. As you know, I’ve spoken a lot about this (radio, television, and in the press). I’ve also answered many emails, including this one at 1:30 am.

I expect the investigation to conclude in 2-3 months, if not sooner. As you know, I can’t take an action by myself (I would have done so long ago if that were the case). It takes at least 3 of the 5 Commissioners.

What I will say is that if this matter was as simple as some writers state and many believe (large concentrated positions regularly manipulating the silver market) this would have been over years ago. It just ain’t so. These are complex global markets–with an emphasis on the global and the “s” (think foreign regulators, foreign holdings, various entities and trading partners to start off with) where things are traded and sliced and diced into physical and other myriad exotic products. These markets can sometimes be like giant shell games.

On limits, I’m hoping we and the SEC will conclude the swaps definition later this month or just after July 4th. I also hope the bankers law suit seeking to stop the rule from being implemented doesn’t have any life. It is frivolous in my opinion.

Finally, there has been a lot of action in silver markets for the past several months. We have a new individual with lots of experience (former silver trader and regulator who caught manipulation before at FERC). He, and his staff, have been looking at trades in detail each time some potential anomaly occurs. There has been more staff hours dedicated to looking at silver in the past few months than anyone would believe.

You may feel free to put this up on your site in its entirety. I was surprised when I was told you put a portion of our emails up the last time we communicated. Anything I write can logically be expected to get on the web, I get that. I just would have made sure to spell check and be more thoughtful than a simple email response if I’d known. Anyway, I guess people had a vulgar on-line party in my honor. Such is life. We do the best we can.

Thanks again for the interview offer. Perhaps when we conclude the investigation, we can talk.

[bonedaddy]

Very interesting. I guess now we have a stake in the ground. We could try to read between the lines ... and I can read both directions from that email. We just have to wait and see who is honorable or who has the REAL power.

[JayDubya]

I'm simply hoping that they do what is right. I'm not saying I hope they do what I expect, or do what I personally think is right. I sincerely hope they do whatever it is that the evidence bears out.

[HistoryStudent]

These crooks could not see an armed robbery right in front of their eyes standing in a bank line.

See no evil, hear no evil, find no evil.

[Strawboss]

What Chilton is describing as the complexity, intermingled with exotic products, globally based markets, etc... is in fact true. It is complicated because you have to nail down every suspected act of manipulation and painstakingly isolate and remove any potential "other" causes.

In other words - the bad guys have lots of wiggle room which makes it harder to pin them down and make anything stick.

Having said that - the position limits would do more to solve this problem than a batallion of regulators/investigators.

How hard can it possibly be to define the word "swaps". Hasnt it been a project going on a year at least?

I do think that the end is in sight, as witnessed by the massive sea change in positions as reflected on the COT. JPM will be net long in silver pretty soon.

Of course they will be slapped with a modest fine that probably wont even cover the costs of the investigations.

Bart wont talk to me anymore. My last email to him suggested that he resign in protest. He blocked me in response so that my emails dont get through anymore.

[HistoryStudent]

What Chilton is describing as the complexity, intermingled with exotic products, globally based markets, etc... is in fact true. It is complicated because you have to nail down every suspected act of manipulation and painstakingly isolate and remove any potential "other" causes.

In other words - the bad guys have lots of wiggle room which makes it harder to pin them down and make anything stick.

Having said that - the position limits would do more to solve this problem than a batallion of regulators/investigators.

How hard can it possibly be to define the word "swaps". Hasnt it been a project going on a year at least?

I do think that the end is in sight, as witnessed by the massive sea change in positions as reflected on the COT. JPM will be net long in silver pretty soon.

Of course they will be slapped with a modest fine that probably wont even cover the costs of the investigations.

Bart wont talk to me anymore. My last email to him suggested that he resign in protest. He blocked me in response so that my emails dont get through anymore.

I think it's hard to NAIL the ones who finance everyone from the dogcatcher upward in Washington, DC, aka District of Corruption.

[Gold Rules]

Of course they will be slapped with a modest fine that probably wont even cover the costs of the investigations.

Bart wont talk to me anymore. My last email to him suggested that he resign in protest. He blocked me in response so that my emails dont get through anymore.

Strawboss

Bart is like a dog on a chain

when his OWNERS jerk he barks & dances to THEIR .......tune

he is not in OUR corner

he plays us lip service & nothing more

he is part & parsel involved with the manipulation & fraud on those who own mining shares

what cracks me up is how the funds who own most of the mining paper dont have the balls to say anything

that speaks volumes

they have hundreds of millions invested & they say nothing ...........cowards one & all

[Lore]

funds who own most of the mining paper dont have the balls to say anything...that speaks volumes...they have hundreds of millions invested & they say nothing ...........cowards one & all

Quoted for truth. Note also the number of companies that take up Sprott's idea of holding back a portion of their production. The implication is the same.

You might as well scour Sodom for honest men. This is a confidence game, and confidence is drying up.

[Fiat Metaler]

well, even Ted Butler has figured out that the CFTC is not going to do anything.

as for Chilton, if he had half the integrity he pretends to have he would have resigned a long time ago.

the whole charade is like a disgusting good cop - bad cop routine.

don't fall for his complexity excuse - if you were long using very complex structures, they would have nailed you a long time ago as they did the Hunts.

what chilton does not address is that criminal prosectuion is not relevant because JPM et al are trading on behalf of Uncle sam, and the national defense exception applies.

position limits - this is the real crime by the CFTC. even the geniuses in congress understood how powerful this would be and stuck a requirement in Dodd Frank that the CFTC impose position limits. That was almost 2 years ago now.

if we actually got position limits, then watch out, but the fact that it has taken this long makes it increasingly less likely that we will ever get them.

swap rule - this is actually very difficult to draft. the requirement to have a swap rule comes from the Volcker amendment, and applies to all derivatives, not just PMs. It would include bread and butter derivatives like swapping a floating interest rate for floating, or yen for dollars. The difficult thing is to draw the line technically between derivatives that are OK and those that are not. at least they have published a draft of the rule, which is more than can be said of position limits.