What the SEC told Dalbón
The Securities and Exchange Commission has confirmed in writing that it received the filing submitted by lawyer Gregorio Dalbón concerning the gold operations of the Banco Central de la República Argentina and the possible involvement of Deutsche Bank. The reply came from the agency's Office of Investor Education and Assistance, which told him the material would be entered into a database that SEC personnel may consult during inspections, examinations and investigations. The office added that some communications may be passed to other parts of the regulator for review.[S1]
The notice does not state that an investigation has been opened, nor does it signal any step the agency might take. The SEC explained that its compliance inquiries are confidential and that it can neither confirm nor deny whether an investigation exists unless the matter already forms part of a public file. It also said confidentiality rules and the US Freedom of Information Act prevent it from detailing the status of a complaint or of any related inquiry.[S1]
How the complaint reached Washington
Dalbón's submission was filed days earlier through the channel known as Tip, Complaint or Referral, which the SEC uses to gather information and assess whether it has jurisdiction and grounds to act. A separate account says the filing went to the agency's Office of the Whistleblower on a Form TCR, the route created by the Dodd-Frank Act for reporting possible breaches of US federal securities law, and that it was lodged as an informational tip without any claim for a financial reward.[S1][S2][S3]
The complaint concerns derivatives transactions tied to the central bank's gold reserves during 2025. According to documents cited in the filing, the Auditoría General de la Nación recorded a negative result equivalent to USD 1.023 billion on those transactions, which were settled with an outflow of foreign currency. One report put the loss at 1.469 trillion pesos, matching the same dollar figure, and noted that the reserves saw an effective exit of funds.[S1][S2]
Dalbón asked the US regulator to establish whether payments, commissions, fees, accounting records and internal control mechanisms connected to the operations warrant review. The filing named Deutsche Bank as a counterparty reported in press accounts, while the central bank has not officially confirmed which entities took part. The document also asked whether any payments, fees or commissions may have reached foreign officials directly or indirectly, and whether the trades were properly booked and subject to adequate accounting and compliance controls.[S1][S2]
The Argentine case and the next step
In Argentina the gold operations are the subject of case CFP 4971/2026, handled by federal prosecutor Carlos Pollicita and federal judge Ariel Lijo. According to the case record, the prosecution has requested evidentiary measures to establish possible responsibilities in the management of the reserves. One report identified the court as Federal Court No. 4 and the prosecution as Federal Prosecutor's Office No. 11.[S1][S3]
Dalbón said the SEC's acknowledgment should be added to that file and that he will present it next Wednesday while seeking international cooperation. He argued that prosecutors cannot ignore the matter once the same complaint is held by the body that polices Wall Street. The filing drew on the auditor's report on the central bank's financial statements as of 31 December 2025 and on available information about option contracts linked to the metal.[S1]
Press reports cited in the complaint described the trades as a hedge against a possible fall in the gold price, through the sale to third parties of the right to buy at just over USD 3,000 an ounce while the market price stood above USD 4,000. The filing itself notes that this description does not come from the auditor's report and must be confirmed through the contracts. It also flags that the amounts of any commissions, fees or margins earned by the institutions involved are unknown, and that a figure above USD 60 million has been mentioned publicly but needs verification.[S3]
