LONDON, April 6 (Reuters) - A unit of London's ETF Securities has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to register platinum and palladium trusts in the United States, according to a notice on the SEC's website.
According to the website, ETF Securities USA LLC made an S-1 filing -- which companies use to register their securities with the SEC -- on behalf of the ETFS Platinum Trust and ETFS Palladium Trust on April 2.
ETF Securities declined to comment.
The company currently operates a range of exchange-traded commodities in Europe and Asia. If the filing results in a listing, the products will be the first platinum and palladium-backed ETFs in the United States.
ETFs issue securities backed by physical stocks of commodities, and have formed a major component of demand for precious metals especially in recent months.
Analysts say they fear strong ETF demand for platinum and palladium could cut supply for industrial users.
"This is an audacious move by ETF Securities and one that could have a major impact on platinum and palladium prices, both in the near term (if investors anticipate approval of these products) and in the longer term if the ETFs squeeze physical metal availability," said UBS in a note on Monday.

(Reporting by Jan Harvey; Editing by James Jukwey) Keywords: ETF SECURITIES/FILING (jan.harvey@thomsonreuters.com; +44 207 542 7744; Reuters Messaging: jan.harvey.reuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.