H.R. 8007

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

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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''.
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