ETFs, bullion banks, storage facilities and other holders of gold that are “self-certifying”  – without any checks by third party auditors – have been caught misreporting and raiding even allocated precious metals accounts, and using the loot to speculate or pay off other debts.

As such, manipulation in the self-certifying portions of the oil and gold markets could have a huge impact on assessing the true health of financial institutions, the economy as a whole, and the assets of individual investors.