SLV: The Silver ETF

The first ever investment fund backed by silver may obtain U.S. regulatory approval within a few days. According to a regulatory filing this week, Barclays Capital Inc. has already deposited with the custodian of a planned silver exchange-traded fund 1.5 million ounces of silver to back 150,000 shares with each representing 10 ounces of silver. The silver ETF, the first of its kind, is sponsored by Barclays Global Investors, a unit of British bank Barclays Plc.

The ETF, which is structured as a trust, is slated to trade on the American Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol 'SLV'.

Similar ETFs for Gold have been introduced last year and had great run over the last few months. These are StreetTracks Gold Trust (GLD) and Barclays' iShares Comex Gold Trust (IAU) [read our past posting].