Washington D.C., — The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that they are working together to explore efficient and effective means of collecting U.S. Treasury cash market transaction information. As part of those efforts, the agencies are requesting that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) consider a proposal to require its member brokers and dealers to report Treasury cash market transactions to a centralized repository.
Treasury’s recent request for information (RFI) on the evolution of the U.S. Treasury market structure sought views on the most effective means of obtaining more comprehensive official sector access to U.S. Treasury cash market data on a regular and ongoing basis. The responses to the RFI expressed broad support for more comprehensive reporting to regulators, including nearly unanimous support for reporting additional information on Treasury cash market activity.
“The Treasury cash market is vital for investors and other market participants,” said SEC Chair Mary Jo White. “Regulatory reporting by FINRA members could provide important new information about day‑to‑day activity in both inter‑dealer and dealer‑to‑client markets.”
“The need for more comprehensive official sector access to data, particularly with respect to Treasury cash market activity, is clear,” said Antonio Weiss, Counselor to Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew. “It is important to build on this growing consensus and, we are committed to having a comprehensive plan to collect cash market data in place by year end. Today’s request to FINRA is a significant first step toward that objective.”
Any proposal by FINRA to require reporting of Treasury cash market activity would be subject to review and approval by the SEC, in consultation with Treasury.
Treasury will continue working with other agencies and authorities to develop a plan for collecting similar data from institutions who actively trade U.S. Treasury securities but are not FINRA members.
The collection of this data will better enable official authorities to fulfill their responsibilities to safeguard the U.S. Treasury market, which remains the deepest and most liquid securities market in the world.
