Sens. Risch and Cortez Masto Introduce Bipartisan SILVER Act to Derisk U.S. Precious Metals Market Infrastructure

Broad industry coalition backs legislation to reduce concentration risk, improve resiliency, expand competition, and strengthen national security

WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESS Newswire / May 21, 2026 / U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-ID) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) today introduced the bipartisan "System Integrity through Licensed Vault Expansion and Resilience Act" ( SILVER Act) designed to derisk, modernize, and strengthen America's precious metals market infrastructure by encouraging greater geographic diversification of approved precious metals depositories.

The Senate bill follows the recent successful introduction of companion legislation in the U.S. House (H.R. 8007) amid growing concerns among lawmakers, regulators, and industry leaders over the national security risks created by geographic concentration of exchange-approved precious metals depositories in the vicinity of New York.

Under exchange practices dating back to the 1970s, depositories used for deliveries on regulated gold, silver, platinum, and palladium futures contracts have been confined to the Greater New York area, creating what supporters describe as a dangerous single-region dependency as to critical financial infrastructure combined with anti-competitive behavior.

A broad coalition of precious metals industry participants - including several large depositories, mints, and dealers as well as refiners, banks, mining companies, logistics providers, manufacturers, insurers, and investors - has formally endorsed the legislation in a letter to Congress.

The SILVER Act would direct the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to ensure broader depository location options and greater transparency in selection processes.

The legislation has already drawn favorable attention from the CFTC. At a recent House Agriculture Committee oversight hearing, CFTC Chairman Michael Selig publicly praised congressional efforts to address structural concentration risks and pledged to work with lawmakers on the issue.

"We applaud your leadership on this issue, and we'd be happy to work with your office on it," CFTC Chairman Selig said to House sponsor Rep. Mark Harris after the Congressman pointed out that a single terrorist attack, cyber incident, natural disaster, infrastructure failure, or other disruption affecting the narrow corridor surrounding New York City could impair metals settlement and delivery functions tied to federally regulated futures markets.

Chairman Selig further acknowledged the importance of ensuring adequate deliverable supply and operational resiliency within commodity derivatives markets.

Advocates of the legislation emphasize that current depository selection practices are monopolistic in nature, suppressing competition and increasing costs for investors and businesses. Existing exchange-approved depositories currently charge the maximum storage fees permitted by the exchange, while many qualified facilities elsewhere in the country could provide services at lower cost. Transportation costs are also elevated because market participants outside the Northeast must ship metals long distances to access public markets.

Industry experts also note that precious metals are not only monetary and investment assets, but also strategically important industrial materials essential to electronics, aerospace, medical technologies, energy infrastructure, and defense manufacturing. As a result, maintaining geographically diverse and secure sources of precious metals is increasingly viewed as a national security imperative.

"The current system creates unnecessary vulnerabilities for the nation's precious metals markets and supply chains - and it arbitrarily excludes major industry players," said industry coalition member Stefan Gleason, CEO of Money Metals, a large national online dealer, depository, and lender based in Idaho.

"The SILVER Act would promote resiliency, improve competition, lower costs for investors and commercial users, and strengthen America's financial and critical minerals infrastructure," Gleason continued.

Now pending in both congressional chambers, the bi-partisan legislation does not require approval of any specific depository. Instead, it allows qualified facilities across the United States to receive fair and objective consideration while substantially reducing concentration risks.

"The SILVER Act is a commonsense modernization measure," said Steven Reiner, EVP at Gold.com, Inc. (NYSE: GOLD), an authorized purchaser of the United States Mint and the owner of Sunshine Minting and SilverTowne Mint, as well as a global network of 15 direct-to-consumer companies, including JM Bullion.

"America's precious metals infrastructure should reflect the realities of a national marketplace and a modern economy - not outdated geographic restrictions established generations ago," Reiner continued.

Tarek Saab, CEO of Texas Precious Metals, a prominent dealer and depository located in the Lone Star State, added "We thank Senators Risch and Cortez Masto for assisting efforts by our vital industry to address a longstanding problem that hampers the resilience, safety, and competitiveness of the U.S. precious metals markets."

CONTACT: [email protected]

SOURCE: Precious Metals Industry Coalition for Market Security & Access