PART I – FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Item 1. Financial Statements

iShares Silver Trust

Statements of Assets and Liabilities (Unaudited)

At June 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017

 

 

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(a)	Cost of investment in silver bullion: $5,806,008,238 and $5,831,748,196, respectively.

(b)	No par value, unlimited amount authorized.

 

 

See notes to financial statements.

 

 

iShares Silver Trust

Statements of Operations (Unaudited)

For the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017

 

 

 

See notes to financial statements.

 

 

iShares Silver Trust

Statements of Changes in Net Assets (Unaudited)

For the six months ended June 30, 2018 and the year ended December 31, 2017

 

 

 

See notes to financial statements.

 

 

iShares Silver Trust

Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited)

For the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017

 

 

 

See notes to financial statements.

 

 

iShares Silver Trust

Notes to Financial Statements (Unaudited)

June 30, 2018

 

 

 

Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

 

This information should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes to financial statements included in Item 1 of Part I of this Form 10‑Q. The discussion and analysis that follows may contain statements that relate to future events or future performance. In some cases, such forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Except as required by applicable disclosure laws, neither the Sponsor, nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any forward-looking statements. Neither the Trust nor the Sponsor is under a duty to update any of the forward-looking statements to conform such statements to actual results or to a change in the Sponsor’s expectations or predictions.

 

Introduction

 

The iShares Silver Trust (the “Trust”) is a grantor trust formed under the laws of the State of New York. The Trust does not have any officers, directors, or employees, and is administered by The Bank of New York Mellon (the “Trustee”) acting as trustee pursuant to the Second Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement (the “Trust Agreement”) between the Trustee and iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC, the sponsor of the Trust (the “Sponsor”). The Trust issues units of beneficial interest (“Shares”) representing fractional undivided beneficial interests in its net assets. The assets of the Trust consist primarily of silver bullion held by a custodian as an agent of the Trust responsible only to the Trustee.

 

The Trust is a passive investment vehicle and seeks to reflect generally the performance of the price of silver. The Trust seeks to reflect such performance before payment of the Trust’s expenses and liabilities. The Trust does not engage in any activities designed to obtain a profit from, or ameliorate losses caused by, changes in the price of silver.

 

The Trust issues and redeems Shares only in exchange for silver, only in aggregations of 50,000 Shares (a “Basket”) or integral multiples thereof, and only in transactions with registered broker-dealers that have previously entered into an agreement with the Sponsor and the Trustee governing the terms and conditions of such issuance (such broker-dealers, the “Authorized Participants”). A list of the current Authorized Participants is available from the Sponsor or the Trustee.

 

Shares of the Trust trade on NYSE Arca, Inc. under the ticker symbol SLV.

 

Valuation of Silver Bullion; Computation of Net Asset Value

 

On each business day, as soon as practicable after 4:00 p.m. (New York time), the Trustee evaluates the silver held by the Trust and determines the net asset value and net asset value per Share (“NAV”) of the Trust. The Trustee values the silver held by the Trust using the price per ounce of silver determined in an electronic auction hosted by ICE Benchmark Administration (“IBA”) that begins at 12:00 p.m. (London time) and published shortly thereafter, on the day the valuation takes place (such price, the “LBMA Silver Price”). If there is no announced LBMA Silver Price on any day, the Trustee is authorized to use the most recently announced LBMA Silver Price unless the Trustee, in consultation with the Sponsor, determines that such price is inappropriate as a basis for evaluation. The LBMA Silver Price is used by the Trust because it is commonly used by the U.S. silver market as an indicator of the value of silver and is permitted to be used under the Trust Agreement. The use of an indicator of the value of silver bullion other than the LBMA Silver Price could result in materially different fair value pricing of the silver held by the Trust, and as such, could result in different cost or market adjustments or in different redemption value adjustments of the outstanding redeemable capital Shares. Having valued the silver held by the Trust, the Trustee adds other assets of the Trust then subtracts all accrued fees, expenses and other liabilities of the Trust from the fair value of the silver and other assets held by the Trust. The result is the net asset value of the Trust. The Trustee computes NAV by dividing the net asset value of the Trust by the number of Shares outstanding on the date the computation is made. Prior to October 2, 2017, the LBMA Silver Price was determined using an electronic auction administered by CME Group and published by Thomson Reuters. Effective as of October 2, 2017, IBA replaced CME Group and Thomson Reuters as the administrator for the LBMA Silver Price and began administering the electronic auction for the LBMA Silver Price.

 

Liquidity

 

The Trust is not aware of any trends, demands, conditions or events that are reasonably likely to result in material changes to its liquidity needs. In exchange for a fee, the Sponsor has agreed to assume most of the expenses incurred by the Trust. As a result, the only ordinary expense of the Trust during the period covered by this report was the Sponsor’s fee. The Trust’s only source of liquidity is its sales of silver.

 

Critical Accounting Policies

 

The financial statements and accompanying notes are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America. The preparation of these financial statements relies on estimates and assumptions that impact the Trust’s financial position and results of operations. These estimates and assumptions affect the Trust’s application of accounting policies. Below is a description of the valuation of silver bullion, a critical accounting policy that the Trust believes is important to understanding its results of operations and financial position. In addition, please refer to Note 2 to the financial statements included in this report for further discussion of the Trust’s accounting policies.

 

 

Results of Operations

 

The Quarter Ended June 30, 2018

 

The Trust’s net asset value fell from $5,191,290,570 at March 31, 2018 to $5,166,953,607 at June 30, 2018, a 0.47% decrease. The decrease in the Trust’s net asset value resulted primarily from a decrease in the LBMA Silver Price, which fell 1.54% from $16.28 at March 31, 2018 to $16.03 at June 30, 2018. The decrease in the Trust’s net asset value was partially offset by an increase in the number of outstanding Shares, which rose from 338,450,000 Shares at March 31, 2018 to 342,550,000 Shares at June 30, 2018, a consequence of 26,300,000 Shares (526 Baskets) being created and 22,200,000 Shares (444 Baskets) being redeemed during the quarter.

 

The 1.69% decline in the Trust’s NAV from $15.34 at March 31, 2018 to $15.08 at June 30, 2018 is directly related to the 1.54% decrease in the price of silver.

 

The Trust’s NAV decreased slightly more than the price of silver on a percentage basis due to the Sponsor’s fees, which were $6,592,413 for the quarter, or 0.12% of the Trust’s average weighted assets of $5,288,081,767 during the quarter. The NAV of $16.21 on June 15, 2018 was the highest during the quarter, compared with a low during the quarter of $15.08 on June 29, 2018.

 

Net decrease in net assets resulting from operations for the quarter was $78,756,193, resulting from an unrealized loss on investment in silver bullion of $43,957,463, a net investment loss of $6,592,413, a net realized loss of $688,243 from silver bullion sold to pay expenses and a net realized loss of $27,518,074 on silver bullion distributed for the redemption of Shares. Other than the Sponsor’s fees of $6,592,413, the Trust had no expenses during the quarter.

 

The Six-Month Period Ended June 30, 2018

 

The Trust’s net asset value fell from $5,405,193,851 at December 31, 2017 to $5,166,953,607 at June 30, 2018, a 4.41% decrease. The decrease in the Trust’s net asset value resulted primarily from a decrease in the LBMA Silver Price, which fell 4.98% from $16.87 at December 31, 2017 to $16.03 at June 30, 2018. The decrease in the Trust’s net asset value was partially offset by an increase in the number of outstanding Shares, which rose from 339,750,000 Shares at December 31, 2017 to 342,550,000 Shares at June 30, 2018, a consequence of 37,900,000 Shares (758 Baskets) being created and 35,100,000 Shares (702 Baskets) being redeemed during the period.

 

The 5.22% decline in the Trust’s NAV from $15.91 at December 31, 2017 to $15.08 at June 30, 2018 is directly related to the 4.98% decrease in the price of silver.

 

The Trust’s NAV decreased slightly more than the price of silver on a percentage basis due to the Sponsor’s fees, which were $13,136,281 for the period, or 0.25% of the Trust’s average weighted assets of $5,296,694,669 during the period. The NAV of $16.52 on January 25, 2018 was the highest during the period, compared with a low during the period of $15.08 on June 29, 2018.

 

Net decrease in net assets resulting from operations for the period was $268,182,752, resulting from an unrealized loss on investment in silver bullion of $212,553,889, a net investment loss of $13,136,281, a net realized loss of $1,194,705 from silver bullion sold to pay expenses and a net realized loss of $41,297,877 on silver bullion distributed for the redemption of Shares. Other than the Sponsor’s fees of $13,136,281, the Trust had no expenses during the period.

 

 

Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

 

Not applicable.

 

 

Item 4. Controls and Procedures

 

The duly authorized officers of the Sponsor performing functions equivalent to those a principal executive officer and principal financial officer of the Trust would perform if the Trust had any officers, with the participation of the Trustee, have evaluated the effectiveness of the Trust’s disclosure controls and procedures, and have concluded that the disclosure controls and procedures of the Trust were effective as of the end of the period covered by this report to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed in the reports that the Trust files or submits under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the applicable rules and forms, and that it is accumulated and communicated to the duly authorized officers of the Sponsor performing functions equivalent to those a principal executive officer and principal financial officer of the Trust would perform if the Trust had any officers, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

 

There are inherent limitations to the effectiveness of any system of disclosure controls and procedures, including the possibility of human error and the circumvention or overriding of the controls and procedures.

 

There were no changes in the Trust’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the period covered by this report that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Trust’s internal control over financial reporting.

 

 

PART II – OTHER INFORMATION

 

Item 1. Legal Proceedings

 

None.

 

 

Item 1A. Risk Factors

 

There have been no material changes to the Risk Factors last reported under Part I, Item 1A of the registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 28, 2018.

 

 

Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

 

a) None.

 

b) Not applicable.

 

c) 22,200,000 Shares (444 Baskets) were redeemed during the quarter ended June 30, 2018.

 

Period		Total Number of Shares Redeemed				Average Ounces of Silver Paid Per Share
04/01/18 to 04/30/18			5,200,000			$	0.9419
05/01/18 to 05/31/18			7,000,000				0.9416
06/01/18 to 06/30/18			10,000,000				0.9412
Total			22,200,000			$	0.9415

 

 

Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities

 

None.

 

 

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

 

Not applicable.

 

 

Item 5. Other Information

 

None.

 

 

Item 6. Exhibits

 

Exhibit No.		Description
4.1		Second Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement is incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 of the Current Report on Form 8-K filed by the Registrant on December 22, 2016
4.2		Standard Terms for Authorized Participant Agreements is incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.2 of the Current Report on Form 8-K filed by the Registrant on December 22, 2016
10.1		First Amended and Restated Custodian Agreement between The Bank of New York Mellon and JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., London branch is incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 of the Current Report on Form 8-K filed by the Registrant on December 22, 2016
10.2		Sub-license Agreement is incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 of Registration Statement No. 333-156506 filed by the Registrant on December 30, 2008
31.1		Certification by Principal Executive Officer Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
31.2		Certification by Principal Financial Officer Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
32.1		Certification by Principal Executive Officer Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
32.2		Certification by Principal Financial Officer Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
101.INS		XBRL Instance Document
101.SCH		XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document
101.CAL		XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document
101.DEF		XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document
101.LAB		XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document
101.PRE		XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document

 

 

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 in the capacities* indicated thereunto duly authorized.

 

iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC,

Sponsor of the iShares Silver Trust (registrant)

 

/s/ Paul Lohrey

Paul Lohrey

Director, President and Chief Executive Officer

(Principal executive officer)

 

Date:

August 6, 2018

 

 

/s/ Jack Gee

Jack Gee Director and Chief Financial Officer (Principal financial and accounting officer)

 

Date:

August 6, 2018

 

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*     The registrant is a trust and the persons are signing in their respective capacities as officers of iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC, the Sponsor of the registrant.

 

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