Putin scolds Tomtor rare earth deposit’s operator over development delays
Located in the north of the Siberian region of Yakutia, Tomtor is a key project in Russia's plans to boost output of rare earth.
Blythe Masters, in charge of global commodities for investment bank JPMorgan, had to defend her employer’s business model on Thursday speaking to CNBC:
“We store significant amounts of commodities, for instance silver, on behalf of customers. We operate vaults in New York City, in Singapore and in London. Often when customers have that metal stored in our facilities they hedge it on a forward basis through JPMorgan, which in turn hedges in the commodities market,” she said.
“If you see only the hedges and our activity in the futures market but you aren’t aware of the underlying client position that we’re hedging, then it would suggest inaccurately that we’re running a large directional position,” she added. “In fact that’s not the case at all. We have offsetting positions. We have no stake in whether prices rise or decline.”
JPMorgan earned $2.8 billion from trading in the commodities markets in 2011 and has been in the news recently after its London-based global chairman for capital markets resigned following a fine for market abuse.
Ian Hannam, aka ‘the king of mining M&A’ is appealing the decision that centred on charges that he passed on confidential information about a client, Heritage Oil, to a potential acquirer in Kurdistan.
3 Comments
Mike-stratford-smith
I’d sooner trust my dog with the sausages than put my metal in any bank vault.
Paul Maritz
Exactly!
Paul Maritz
Who do they think they’re kidding??? Bloody banksters! Why don’t Masters tell us for one about JP Morgan’s involvement in the MF Global scandal where they’ve stolen millions of dollars from investors? They won’t, but make no mistake about it, the good guys are starting to win… the end of the global fiat Ponzi scheme is very close. Honest money, especially in the form of gold and silver coins, is going to reign supreme for many years to come.