UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549



FORM 8-K



CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934



Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): October 2, 2017





ETFS SILVER TRUST

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)













Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

☐Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

☐Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

☐Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

☐Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))





Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (17 CFR § 230.405) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (17 CFR § 240.12b-2).

Emerging growth company☐



If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.☐



Item 8.01 Other Events.



On July 14, 2017, the LBMA announced that ICE Benchmark Administration (“IBA”) has been selected to be the third-party administrator for the “LBMA Silver Price.” IBA will provide the auction platform and methodology as well as the overall administration and governance for the LBMA Silver Price benchmark.



Effective from October 2, 2017, IBA will take over the administration of the LBMA Silver Price and operation of the underlying auction and will utilize similar procedures for the LBMA Silver Price to those it utilizes in connection with its administration of the LBMA Gold Price.

The IBA’s LBMA Silver Price auction specifications will be similar to those for the previous LBMA Silver Price auction administered by CME Group, Inc. and Thomson Reuters, except as set out below:

ETF Securities USA, LLC, the Sponsor of ETFS Silver Trust (the “Trust”), understands that the above changes are being made to further enhance and develop the LBMA Silver Price and that

IBA will utilize similar procedures for the LBMA Silver Price to those it utilizes in connection with its administration of the LBMA PM Gold Price.

Below is a summary of the IBA auction process which will apply effective from October 2, 2017:



On July 14, 2017, the LBMA announced that IBA had been selected to be the third-party administrator for the “LBMA Silver Price”. Effective from October 2, IBA will provide the auction platform and methodology as well as the overall administration and governance for the LBMA Silver Price benchmark. IBA will operate an “equilibrium auction”, which is an electronic, tradable and auditable, over-the-counter auction for LBMA-authorized participating silver bullion banks or market makers and sponsored clients of direct participants (“silver participants”) that establishes a reference silver price for that day’s trading, often referred to as the “LBMA Silver Price”. The LBMA Silver Price equilibrium auction operated by CME Group Inc. and Thomson Reuters prior to October 2, 2017 was selected by the LBMA as the silver valuation replacement for the London silver fix previously determined by the London Silver Market Fixing Ltd. that was discontinued on August 14, 2014. The LBMA Silver Price has become a widely used benchmark for daily silver prices and is quoted by various financial information sources as the London silver fix was previously.

The LBMA Silver Price is the result of an “equilibrium auction” because it establishes a price for a troy ounce of Silver Good Delivery Bars that will clear the maximum amount of bids and offers for silver entered by order-submitting silver participants each day. IBA will use ICE’s front-end system, WebICE, as the technology platform that will allow direct participants, as well as sponsored clients of direct participants, to manage their orders in the auction in real time via their own desktops. As the IBA electronic silver auction market develops, IBA expects to admit additional silver participants to the order submission process. The benchmark is published when the auction finishes, typically a few minutes after 12:00 noon (London time).

At the opening of each auction, IBA in the role of auction chairman (“Chairman”) will announce an opening price (in USD), that takes into account current market conditions and begin auction rounds, with an expected duration of at least every 30 seconds each. During each auction round, participants may enter the volume they wish to buy or sell at that price, and such orders will be part of the price formation. Aggregate bid and offer volume will be shown live on WebICE. At the end of each auction round, the total net volume will be calculated. If this “imbalance” is larger than the imbalance tolerance (currently set at 500,000 oz.) then a new price will be set by the Chairman (based on the current market conditions, and the direction and magnitude of the imbalance in the round) and begin a new auction round. If the imbalance is less than the tolerance, then the auction is complete with all volume tradeable at that price. The price will then be set in USD and also converted into other currencies, including Australian Dollars, British Pounds, Canadian Dollars, Euros, Onshore and Offshore Yuan, Indian Rupees, Japanese Yen, Malaysian Ringgit, Russian Rubles, Singapore Dollars, South African Rand, Swiss Francs, New Taiwan Dollars, Thai Baht and Turkish Lira. The auction will be run at 12:00 noon (London time).

During the auction, the price at the start of each round, and the volumes at the end of each round will be available through major market data vendors. As soon as the auction finishes, the final

prices and volumes will be available through major market data vendors. IBA will also publish transparency reports, detailing the prices, volumes and times for each round of the auction. These transparency reports will be available through major market data vendors and IBA when the auction finishes. The process can also be observed real-time through a WebICE screen. The auction mechanism will provide a complete audit trail.



As of August 1, 2017, there were seven direct participants in the LBMA Silver Price administered by CME Group and Thomson Reuters. The number of direct participants upon IBA’s assumption of the role of LBMA Silver Price administrator is expected to equal or exceed the number of market participants currently participating in the auction process that determines the LBMA Silver Price.



Since April 1, 2015, the LBMA Silver Price has been regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) in the United Kingdom (“UK”).  IBA is already authorized as a regulated benchmark administrator by the FCA. Under the UK benchmark regulation, the governance structure for a regulated benchmark must include an Oversight Committee, made up of market participants, industry bodies, direct participant representatives, infrastructure providers and the administrator (i.e., IBA). Through the Oversight Committee the LBMA will continue to have significant involvement in the oversight of the auction process, including, among other matters, changes to the methodology and accreditation of direct participants. The price discovery process for the LBMA Silver Price will be subject to surveillance by IBA. IBA has been formally assessed against the IOSCO Principles for Financial Benchmarks (the “IOSCO Principles”). In order to meet the IOSCO Principles, the price discovery used for the LBMA Silver Price benchmark will be auditable and transparent.

The LBMA Silver Price is viewed as a full and fair representation of all market interest at the conclusion of the auction. IBA’s auction process is similar to CME Group’s auction process, which in turn was similar to the non-electronic process previously used to establish the London silver fix where the London silver fix process adjusted the silver price up or down until all the buy and sell orders are matched, at which time the price was declared fixed. Nevertheless, the LBMA Silver Price has several advantages over the previous London silver fix. IBA’s auction process will be fully transparent in real-time to direct participants and sponsored clients and, at the close of each auction, to the general public. IBA’s auction process also will be fully auditable since an audit trail exists for every change made in the process. Moreover, the audit trail and active surveillance of the auction process by IBA, as well as the FCA’s oversight of IBA, should deter manipulative and abusive conduct in establishing each day’s LBMA Silver Price.





SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.



ETFS SILVER TRUST



By: ETF Securities USA, Sponsor of the ETFS Silver Trust















By:    /s/ Graham Tuckwell

     Graham Tuckwell

 President and Chief Executive Officer





By:    /s/ Christopher Foulds

     Christopher Foulds

 Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer







Date:  October 2, 2017