美國可能結束白銀價格操縱案調查

A four-year investigation into the possible manipulation of the silver market is likely to be dropped after US regulators failed to find enough evidence to support a legal case, according to three people familiar with the situation.

據3名知情人士稱，美國可能結束爲期4年的針對白銀市場可能存在操縱行爲的調查，因爲美國監管機構未能發現足夠多的證據，無法提起訴訟。

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced in September 2008 that it was investigating "complaints of misconduct in the silver market", following a barrage of allegations of manipulation from some precious metals investors.

2008年9月，美國商品期貨交易委員會(CFTC)宣佈，正就"白銀市場存在不當行爲的指控"展開調查，此前，一些貴金屬投資者提出了大量操縱指控。

In 2010, Bart Chilton, a CFTC commissioner, said that he believed there had been "fraudulent efforts" to "deviously control" the silver price.

2010年，CFTC的一名委員巴特•切爾頓(Bart Chilton)表示，他認爲，市場上存在以"欺詐"手段"不正當控制"白銀價格的"做法"。

But after taking advice from two external consultancies, the first of which found irregularities on certain trading dates that it believed deserved more analysis, CFTC staff do not have sufficient evidence to bring a case, according to the people familiar with the situation.

但知情人士稱，在聽取兩名外部顧問的建議後，CFTC的工作人員沒有找到足夠多的證據提起訴訟。其中一名顧問發現了某些交易日期的反常，CFTC認爲，對於這一問題需要進行更多的分析。

The agency's five commissioners have not yet formally determined the outcome of the investigation, leaving open the possibility that staff could be instructed to dig deeper.

CFTC的5名委員尚未正式確定調查結果，因此該機構也有可能會指示其工作人員展開更深入調查。

The CFTC said: "The investigation has not reached its conclusion". It declined to comment further.

CFTC表示："調查尚未做出結論"。CFTC拒絕進一步置評。

Ending the probe would infuriate some US silver investors, who claim that a group of large investment banks – in particular, JPMorgan – has conspired to drive the price of silver lower.

結束調查將激怒美國一些白銀投資者，他們聲稱，一些大型投行——尤其是摩根大通(JPMorgan)——共謀推低白銀價格。

"I'm sure it will be met with some concern from a certain group of aggressive silver speculators," said one person familiar with the investigation.

一名瞭解此次調查的人士表示："這樣的結果肯定會激起某些激進白銀投機者的擔憂。"

In a recent blog post, Ted Butler, a newsletter publisher and unofficial champion for the silver investors, accused the CFTC of being "negligent in failing to terminate the obvious manipulation ongoing in silver".

在最近一篇博客中，時事通訊發佈者、白銀投資者的非官方支持者泰德•巴特勒(Ted Butler)指責CFTC"玩忽職守，未能終止白銀市場持續存在的顯而易見的操縱行爲"。

The CFTC has analysed more than 100,000 documents and interviewed dozens of witnesses since it began its investigations, it said last year.

CFTC去年表示，自調查開始以來，該機構對10萬多份文件進行了分析，並採訪了多名證人。

The people familiar with the situation said the evidence included records from JPMorgan.

知情人士表示，證據包括來自摩根大通的記錄。