HSBC has purchased $876 million of silver in the last 12 months

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-01-23/silver-bars-being-secured-hsbc-%E2%80%93-buys-876-million-worth-poland

HSBC did not comment on the deal and it only came to light as KGHM is a listed company and had to report the deal which was then picked up in Polish media.

The massive deal could simply be HSBC securing supply for the NYSE listed ETFS Physical Silver as they are the custodian.

Or it could be that senior people in HSBC are concerned about securing supply as they expect robust investment demand to continue and possibly increase resulting in higher prices.

Click to expand...

Nice to see that, at least for some period of time, they will have real, physical metal and not just paper claims.

just a heads up - KGHM is one of Polish heavy-weights (by our standards ), and AFAIK, they are mainly Copper producer, with usual Silver as by-product (with benefits ). They used to be fully own by state (obviously ), still about a third of shares is state-owned. Seen as a strategic company in Poland

...why don't we just keep all the silver stuff mined for ourselves/Polish Treasury, is stupid IMHO, but well, I never managed to get elected into anything (I'd rather irritate other people, than get their votes )

EDIT: BTW, they are certified as "good delivery silver" producer in London, New York & Dubai. So it should be silver without fillings

Good to know Bushi, figured they must be a heavyweight as just the $876 million HSBC bought is like 3% of total annual world silver supply.

Nice thread and comments Unbeatable, bushi and PMBug.

Yes, if I were the HHIC there in Poland (w Polskie?), I would be inclined to keep a pretty decent chunk of silver nice and safe there at home. Also, as Poland is not a eurozone country, I (as HHIC) would also hold LOTS of gold in my central bank!

The fact that HSBC needs physical silver is very telling. I will be interested to see which metal (silver or gold) leads to a big default. Yet another reason to be diversified in PMs!