In Chats, Silver ‘Mafia’ Traders Flexed Muscle, Drew Blades
- Messages between two dealers span five years, four banks
- Traders talk of ‘smashing’ market to juice profits: filings
Traders Accused of Rigging the Silver Market
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Until 2014, the global reference price for silver and other precious metals was set each day in a phone call or at a meeting with traders at a handful of banks, a century-old ritual known as the London Fix. Deutsche Bank AG was one of the banks.
As early as 2008, one of its traders began conspiring with a trader at Fortis Bank, via electronic chat, to manipulate prices, according to court documents filed by silver investors seeking to broaden their claims that the market was rigged.