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GATA IN PARIS
TO: Attendees of the 23rd Financial World Gold Conference.
FROM: Bill Murphy, Chairman, Gold Anti-Trust Action
Committee Inc.
SUBJECT: GATA Challenges Gold Fields Mineral Services Ltd.
June 26, 2000
On May 10, 2000, a delegation of the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee met with Dennis Hastert, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, about the manipulation of the gold market. We presented the speaker with our 119-page "Gold Derivative Banking Crisis" report, which may be viewed at our Internet site: www.GATA.org
That discussion went so well that the speaker arranged a meeting for us with U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, which has oversight of gold and silver issues. Six members of Bachus' staff also attended.
Then the GATA delegation met with Dr. John Silvia, chief economist of the Senate Banking Committee. The next day we distributed the "Gold Derivative Banking Crisis" report to every House and Senate banking
committee member.
After GATA's meetings in Washington, the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism, and Government Information requested and received our report.
The Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee believes:
1. That certain bullion dealers, with some possible official sector support, have been acting together to hold the gold price below $300 per ounce.
2. The gold loans are much larger than commonly acknowledged. Our best estimate is that they are around 10,000 to 11,000 tonnes. Since gold mine supply in 1999 was only 2,579 tonnes, there is serious potential for
physical delivery failures, which could even be systemic in nature.
3. The incredible buildup of the notional amount of off-balance-sheet gold derivatives at certain bullion banks should be scrutinized by the gold industry and banking authorities. According to the U.S. Office of
the Controller of the Currency and the Bank for International Settlements, they have risen dramatically this past year.
Reginal H. Howe of www.GoldenSextant.com has written extensively on this subject. Howe was part of the GATA delegation to Washington and is attending this conference in the event you wish to speak with him.
In addition, Sanders Research Associates, a prestigious London consulting firm, has just published an interview about GATA's findings. This article will be read by the European Central Bank, the Saudi Monetary Authority, the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank, Congress' Joint Economic Committee, pension fund managers, and others. It also may be viewed at our Internet site: www.GATA.org
The Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee realizes that many attending the Financial Times World Gold Conference do not accept our conclusions about what is really going on in the gold market. As we told the speaker of the House, we are only looking for the truth.
In that spirit, the GATA delegation challenges Gold Fields Mineral Services Ltd. to a luncheon debate on our findings and the "Gold Derivative Banking Crisis" report. This debate can be held in New York, London, or at the Blanchard Investment Conference in New Orleans (at the preference of GFMS) with members of the press and gold industry as guests. GATA will pay for the luncheon, travel expenses, accommodations, etc.
There is a great call in many financial circles for greater transparency in the gold market. As many people have acknowledged, gold may be the least transparent market of all. Such a debate can only help those in the
gold industry who wish to determine the facts.
* * *
Bill Murphy
GATA website: http://www.GATA.org
June 26, 2000
Also by Bill Murphy
