Gold disclaimer on Comex report raises new questions about bullion supplies - Wealth Management

From Jesse's Cafe Americain: This is from the report that shows the amount of gold and silver said to be available at the Comex.

"The information in this report is taken from sources believed to be reliable; however, the Commodity Exchange, Inc. disclaims all liability whatsoever with regard to its accuracy or completeness. This report is produced for information purposes only."

So much for even any pretext of audits and inventory controls. Just numbers on a piece of paper when push comes to shove. 

One can only wonder why the Exchange felt the need to add this statement now, after all these years. Especially when Comex eligible gold inventory levels are approaching record lows, and there is widespread mistrust of certain parties and their opaque market positions on this list.

And there are rumours of forced cash settlements in lieu of bullion delivery floating around. The Hong Kong Metals Exchange just folded, and forced cash settlements. And banks are cancelling physical delivery arrangements.

How can someone who is trading metals and storing them at the warehouse not be concerned about a declaration of force majeure without liability recourse? What is the purpose of a commodities exchange when there are no representations made that they even possess what one is trading?

And from Dave Kranzler of the Golden Truth blog: 

How would you like to get your bank statement in the mail from JP Morgan or Bank of America and see this disclaimer added at the bottom:

"The information in this account statement is taken from sources believed to be reliable; however, JP Morgan Chase & Co. disclaims all liability whatsoever with regard to its accuracy or completeness. This account statement is produced for information purposes only." ...

The common reaction would be to ask "why now?" But we already know the answer to that question. I've suspected for a long time that the Comex vault operators lease out a substantial portion of the gold and silver bars that they keep in both the "registered" and "eligible" account designations. It would be easy income for JP Morgan, a bullion bank who actively engages in gold leasing, to lease out the majority of the bars it stores for delivery -- "registered" -- and for investors who have taken delivery but keep their gold/silver in JPM's Comex vault -- "eligible." After all, in any given delivery month, less than 1-2% of the open interest ever stand for delivery, making it very easy for a Comex vault operator to earn extra income by leasing out gold and silver that it knows it will never be required to produce for delivery.

More information can be found online at http://www.goldbullionadvisors.com