Yellen says taking steps to enhance Treasury market, funds resilience By Reuters

By David Lawder

(Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Monday the U.S. financial system remains resilient amid global volatility, but the Treasury is taking steps to mitigate potential risks in the Treasury market and private money market and bond funds.

Yellen, in remarks prepared for delivery to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association’s (SIFMA) annual meeting in New York, said Treasury was closely monitoring the financial sector

“To date, the U.S. financial system has not been a source of economic instability. While we continue to watch for emerging risks, our system remains resilient and continues to operate well through uncertainties,” Yellen said.

The U.S. Treasury market is currently reflecting greater uncertainty about the economic outlook, but trading volumes are “robust” and transactions are being executed, she said. But Yellen added that recent episodes of stress in the Treasury market pointed to the need to take steps to enhance its resilience.

“Treasury is working with financial regulators to advance reforms that improve the Treasury market’s ability to absorb shocks and disruptions, rather than to amplify them,” Yellen said.

An index of near-term volatility in the Treasury market from ICE/Bank of America Merrill Lynch is near the highest level since the spring of 2020 when market dislocations during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Federal Reserve to step in to restore order.

Higher market volatility also could expose vulnerabilities in non-bank financial intermediation, Yellen said. She added that Treasury and financial regulators are working to better monitor leverage in private funds and to “develop policies to reduce the first-mover advantage that could lead to investor runs in money market funds and open-end bond funds.”