UPDATE 1-U.S. Treasury, regulators hail resilience of market infrastructure; reviews under way

Reuters · 02/04/2021 23:50
UPDATE 1-U.S. Treasury, regulators hail resilience of market infrastructure; reviews under way

Adds quotes background

- The core infrastructure of financial markets proved resilient during recent high volatility and heavy trading volume involving GameStop Corp GME.N and other stocks, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and top regulators agreed on Thursday.

But they underscored the importance of the Securities and Exchange Commission's releasing a timely study of the events, the U.S. Treasury said after the high-level meeting convened by Yellen on Thursday to review the trading frenzy.

The SEC and Commodities Futures Trading Commission were now reviewing whether the trading practices were consistent with investor protection and fair and efficient markets, Treasury said in a statement.

Yellen and the heads of the SEC, CFTC Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve Bank of New York discussed market functionality and recent trading practices in equity, commodity and related markets during the meeting, Treasury said.

"The regulators believe the core infrastructure was resilient during high volatility and heavy trading volume and agree on the importance of the SEC releasing a timely study of the events," it said.

"Secretary Yellen believes it is imperative to uphold the integrity of these markets and ensure investor protection."

Yellen told ABC's "Good Morning America" earlier Thursday that she and financial market regulators were seeking to "understand deeply" what had happened before considering action. nL1N2KA16X


(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Leslie Adler and Stephen Coates)

((andrea.shalal@tr.com; +1 202-815-7432;))