[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3461-S3462]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 6336. Mr. RISCH (for himself, Ms. Cortez Masto, and Mr. Crapo)
submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S.
4784, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2027 for military
activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and
for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe
military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other
purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the appropriate place in title X, insert the following:
Subtitle _--Precious Metals Depositories
SEC. 1___. 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.
[[Page S3462]]
(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. 1___. 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 that
clears agreements, contracts, transactions, or swaps that can
result in the physical delivery of precious metals and is a
designated financial market utility (as defined in section
803 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer
Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5462)) (referred to in this
paragraph as a `systemically important 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 systemically important 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 systemically important 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) in the case of a systemically important derivatives
clearing organization, conditions for applying to, and
receiving approval from, the systemically important
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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