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The British Columbia Securities Commission said it's investigating allegations made against China-focussed Silvercorp Metals Inc. in an anonymous letter sent to the Vancouver-based company last week.

The regulator made the unusual announcement Friday that it's conducting a "regulatory investigation" after allegations were made in the letter dated August 29, 2011, addressed to the Ontario Securities Commission, Silvercorp's auditors and various media outlets.

"The BCSC is examining both the nature of the complaint and the allegations contained in the letter," the regulator said in a statement late Friday.

It said Silvercorp, which operates silver mines in China, is co-operating with the investigation.

"This is a departure from the BCSC's usual policy of keeping investigations confidential, but we feel it is necessary in order to conduct a balanced and thorough review to publicly ask the author of the complaint to come forward" said Lang Evans, director of enforcement for the BCSC stated.

The commission also called for the author of the complaint, or anyone else with information including the identity of the author, to contact them.

Friday's announcement came after Silvercorp said this week that RCMP have contacted the company and offered to help find who made the allegations.

CEO Rui Feng told Bloomberg that two members of the Integrated Market Enforcement Team met with Silvercorp executives at its Vancouver headquarters on Monday.

In a statement on Sept. 2, the company said its auditors received an anonymous letter that alleged a $1.3-billion accounting fraud. Among the specific allegations were that Silvercorp's significant 2010 profit reported in North American filings does not match a loss reported in China, and that the company's cash position is overstated.

Silvercorp has vociferously denied anonymous allegations, and immediately posted links to a variety of financial reports and statements, including filings with Chinese authorities.

Silvercorp chief executive officer Rui Feng said in a statement last week that the letter amounts to a "manipulative scheme" that is "baseless and which depresses our share price and harms our shareholders."

The letter's author acknowledged that his firm holds a short position in Silvercorp shares, the company said.

Corporate secretary Lorne Waldman has said it's clear the letter-writer was trying to take advantage of the stock market "phobia" against companies that operate in China, following the scandal at Sino-Forest Corp., which has been accused of accounting fraud.

The company has established a task force of independent directors to work with regulators and to try to uncover the person's identity.

-with files from Richard Blackwell

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