STEVENSON, MD--(Marketwire - January 5, 2011) - Brower Piven, A Professional Corporation announces that a class action lawsuit has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on behalf of a class that includes purchasers and sellers of the iShares Silver Trust (NYSE Arca: SLV) and the ETF Securities Ltd. Silver Trust (NYSE Arca: SIVR) during the period March 1, 2008 through the present (the "Class Period"). The case is also brought on behalf of investors who purchased or sold CME Group Inc's "COMEX" silver futures or options contracts which are traded electronically through the Chicago-based "GLOBEX" platform and through COMEX.

No class has yet been certified in the above action. As to certain of the claims, members of the Class will be represented by the lead plaintiff and counsel chosen by the lead plaintiff. If you wish to choose counsel to represent you and the Class, you must apply to be appointed lead plaintiff no later than February 25, 2011 and be selected by the Court. The lead plaintiff will direct certain aspects of the litigation and participate in important decisions including whether to accept a settlement as to certain claims and how much of a settlement to accept for the Class in the action. The lead plaintiff will be selected from among applicants claiming the largest interest in the outcome of the litigation. 

The complaint alleges that defendants, JP Morgan Chase & Co., the custodian of silver backing SLV securities and the sub-custodian of silver backing SIVR securities, and HSBC, the custodian of silver backing the SIVR securities, manipulated and suppressed the price of silver bar financial products, including SLV and SIVR, in violation of Section 9 of the Securities Exchange Act and Section 9(a) of the Commodity Exchange Act. In addition to these claims, the complaint alleges that defendants violated federal antitrust law.

The claims in the complaint are alleged to have arisen from defendants' alleged manipulation and restraints of trade in connection with the market for United States exchange-traded financial instruments backed by silver bars that are deliverable on the London Bullion Market Association and against the silver futures contract traded on the COMEX and GLOBEX platforms of the CME Group, Inc. According to the complaint, during the Class Period, defendants conspired to intentionally, unlawfully and artificially suppress, and have in fact intentionally, unlawfully and artificially suppressed, the prices of exchange-traded silver bar financial instruments.

If you have engaged in substantial transactions in NYSE-Arca or CME/COMEX Exchange-Traded Silver Bar Financial Instruments since March 1, 2008, including in iShares Silver Trust and/or the ETF Securities Ltd. Silver Trust, you may obtain additional information about this lawsuit and your ability to become a lead plaintiff by contacting Brower Piven at www.browerpiven.com, by email at hoffman@browerpiven.com, by calling 410/415-6616, or at Brower Piven, A Professional Corporation, 1925 Old Valley Road, Stevenson, Maryland 21153. Attorneys at Brower Piven have combined experience litigating securities and class action cases of over 60 years. If you choose to retain counsel, you may retain Brower Piven without financial obligation or cost to you, or you may retain other counsel of your choice. You need take no action at this time to be a member of the class.