Scotiabank, Deutsche, HSBC accused of rigging silver price

The Bank of Nova Scotia, Deutsche Bank and HSBC have been accused of fixing the price of trillions of dollars worth of silver, an allegation similar to earlier suits involving the London gold fix.

Scott Nicholson filed suit against the three banks for allegedly manipulating the price of silver and in the process, making money at the expense of smaller players. Nicholson claims the banks abused their position and unlawfully manipulated the benchmark, violating antitrust laws and the Commodity Exchange Act.

A spokesperson for the Bank of Nova Scotia told Bloomberg that it would “vigorously defend” itself. HSBC and Deutsche Bank have not commented.