Most Popular
1. It’s a New Macro, the Gold Market Knows It, But Dead Men Walking Do Not (yet)- Gary_Tanashian
2.Stock Market Presidential Election Cycle Seasonal Trend Analysis - Nadeem_Walayat
3. Bitcoin S&P Pattern - Nadeem_Walayat
4.Nvidia Blow Off Top - Flying High like the Phoenix too Close to the Sun - Nadeem_Walayat
4.U.S. financial market’s “Weimar phase” impact to your fiat and digital assets - Raymond_Matison
5. How to Profit from the Global Warming ClImate Change Mega Death Trend - Part1 - Nadeem_Walayat
7.Bitcoin Gravy Train Trend Forecast 2024 - - Nadeem_Walayat
8.The Bond Trade and Interest Rates - Nadeem_Walayat
9.It’s Easy to Scream Stocks Bubble! - Stephen_McBride
10.Fed’s Next Intertest Rate Move might not align with popular consensus - Richard_Mills
Last 7 days
US Presidential Election Year Stock Market Seasonal Trend - 29th Nov 24
Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past - 29th Nov 24
Gold After Trump Wins - 29th Nov 24
The AI Stocks, Housing, Inflation and Bitcoin Crypto Mega-trends - 27th Nov 24
Gold Price Ahead of the Thanksgiving Weekend - 27th Nov 24
Bitcoin Gravy Train Trend Forecast to June 2025 - 24th Nov 24
Stocks, Bitcoin and Crypto Markets Breaking Bad on Donald Trump Pump - 21st Nov 24
Gold Price To Re-Test $2,700 - 21st Nov 24
Stock Market Sentiment Speaks: This Is My Strong Warning To You - 21st Nov 24
Financial Crisis 2025 - This is Going to Shock People! - 21st Nov 24
Dubai Deluge - AI Tech Stocks Earnings Correction Opportunities - 18th Nov 24
Why President Trump Has NO Real Power - Deep State Military Industrial Complex - 8th Nov 24
Social Grant Increases and Serge Belamant Amid South Africa's New Political Landscape - 8th Nov 24
Is Forex Worth It? - 8th Nov 24
Nvidia Numero Uno in Count Down to President Donald Pump Election Victory - 5th Nov 24
Trump or Harris - Who Wins US Presidential Election 2024 Forecast Prediction - 5th Nov 24
Stock Market Brief in Count Down to US Election Result 2024 - 3rd Nov 24
Gold Stocks’ Winter Rally 2024 - 3rd Nov 24
Why Countdown to U.S. Recession is Underway - 3rd Nov 24
Stock Market Trend Forecast to Jan 2025 - 2nd Nov 24
President Donald PUMP Forecast to Win US Presidential Election 2024 - 1st Nov 24
At These Levels, Buying Silver Is Like Getting It At $5 In 2003 - 28th Oct 24
Nvidia Numero Uno Selling Shovels in the AI Gold Rush - 28th Oct 24
The Future of Online Casinos - 28th Oct 24
Panic in the Air As Stock Market Correction Delivers Deep Opps in AI Tech Stocks - 27th Oct 24
Stocks, Bitcoin, Crypto's Counting Down to President Donald Pump! - 27th Oct 24
UK Budget 2024 - What to do Before 30th Oct - Pensions and ISA's - 27th Oct 24
7 Days of Crypto Opportunities Starts NOW - 27th Oct 24
The Power Law in Venture Capital: How Visionary Investors Like Yuri Milner Have Shaped the Future - 27th Oct 24
This Points To Significantly Higher Silver Prices - 27th Oct 24

Market Oracle FREE Newsletter

How to Protect your Wealth by Investing in AI Tech Stocks

Will DOJ Finally Hold Bullion Banks Accountable for Gold and Silver Market Rigging

Commodities / Gold and Silver 2018 Nov 27, 2018 - 04:05 PM GMT

By: MoneyMetals

Commodities

Clint Siegner : It is hard to cheer for the Department of Justice these days, but federal prosecutions have begun to offer hope for precious metals investors hurt by rigged markets and crooked traders.

The DOJ looks poised to do what regulators at the CFTC have not. They will use evidence of blatant cheating and fraud to hold a few bankers accountable.


Last week, DOJ officials asked the judge in a civil suit against JPMorgan Chase to delay proceedings for 6 months to clear the path for more prosecutions.

Plaintiffs in that civil action have accused JPMorgan of ripping off investors based in part on evidence turned over by Deutsche Bank in 2016.

Deutsche Bank paid millions of dollars in fines and provided hundreds of thousands of documents plus dozens of voice recordings to settle its portion of the ongoing lawsuit.

Justice Department investigators, who may be using the same trove of information, would like to see a pause in the civil proceedings to “protect the integrity” of their ongoing criminal investigation.

Trader Has Turned State’s Evidence against JPMorgan, Others

DOJ's request follows a key conviction last month. John Edmonds, a former JPMorgan metals trader, pleaded guilty to spoofing the metals markets and admitted he had done so with full awareness and support of his managers.

Edmonds, like Deutsche Bank, has agreed to cooperate and provide evidence implicating his superiors and other traders, both inside his bank and elsewhere.

Edmonds admitted to spoofing markets hundreds of times over 6 years, confirming what many gold and silver bugs have long known.

The precious metals markets are illegally manipulated by the bullion banks as a matter of routine and they have been doing it for a very long time.

Yes, the debate over whether or not there is price rigging in the metals markets is effectively over.

Now the debate over whether these rigged markets can be cleaned up begins. Edmonds will be sentenced for his crimes on Dec. 19th. The DOJ’s request for a 6-month delay of the civil suit implies that the agency expects to make real progress between now and the middle of next year.

If the Justice Department can uncover even more evidence of fraud, charge multiple people with crimes, and implicate several other banks, it will be a tremendous boost to the case.

CFTC Continues to Turn a Blind Eye

Unfortunately, despite progress elsewhere, the captured CFTC has yet to acknowledge the complete failure of its own 5-year investigation of the crooked silver market. While they “searched” in futility for wrong-doing, Edmonds and an unknown number of other bank traders cheated incessantly.

As of this writing, there is no indication the CFTC plans to take action of any sort – they apparently don’t find the guilty pleas and mountains of evidence compelling enough to reopen their own investigation.

It’s too bad because regulators could do a lot to restore confidence in the markets by restricting the banks’ ability to trade – something the DOJ cannot do.

The banks are still getting their money’s worth for capturing the CFTC and other regulatory bodies. Bank executives may wish they had invested more in cozying up with the FBI and federal prosecutors.

Now it appears criminal and civil juries will get their chance to evaluate what the bullion banks have been doing. Those citizens may not be as tolerant as the bureaucrats at the CFTC.

By Clint Siegner

MoneyMetals.com

Clint Siegner is a Director at Money Metals Exchange, perhaps the nation's fastest-growing dealer of low-premium precious metals coins, rounds, and bars. Siegner, a graduate of Linfield College in Oregon, puts his experience in business management along with his passion for personal liberty, limited government, and honest money into the development of Money Metals' brand and reach. This includes writing extensively on the bullion markets and their intersection with policy and world affairs.

© 2018 Clint Siegner - All Rights Reserved

Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.


© 2005-2022 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.


Post Comment

Only logged in users are allowed to post comments. Register/ Log in