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Opening Statement Of CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero: Open Commission Meeting On December 13, 2023 - Protecting Our Critical Market Infrastructure

Date 13/12/2023

This is our last meeting of 2023, a year where derivatives markets have remained stable despite bank failures and geopolitical events.  We can’t take that stability for granted.  Threats are always changing.  The CFTC’s responsibility includes ensuring that markets and critical market infrastructure remain resilient.

Statement On Adoption Of Standards For Covered Clearing Agencies For U.S. Treasury Securities And Application Of The Broker-Dealer Customer Protection Rule With Respect To U.S. Treasury Securities, SEC Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw, Dec. 13, 2023

Date 13/12/2023

As I noted at the time of the proposal, it is hard to overstate the importance of the U.S. Treasury market. U.S. Treasury securities are direct obligations of the U.S. Government issued by the Department of the Treasury. The U.S. Treasury market is truly one of the most important financial markets in the world, since Treasury rates are a fundamental benchmark for pricing practically all other financial assets. In both the U.S. and global economies, U.S. Treasury securities serve as a significant investment instrument and hedging vehicle for investors, a benchmark of the “risk free” rate for other financial instruments, a source of liquid assets for funds and brokers, and an important mechanism for the Federal Reserve’s implementation of monetary policy. In fact, U.S. Treasury securities are often used as substitutes for cash.

Statement In Support Of The PCAOB’s 2024 Budget, SEC Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw, Dec. 13, 2023

Date 13/12/2023

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”) is a key component of the investor protection ecosystem. It oversees “the audit of companies that are subject to the securities laws…in order to protect the interests of investors and further the public interest in the preparation of informative, accurate, and independent audit reports.” This responsibility has been given to the PCAOB through an act of Congress. I am happy to support the budget today so that Chair Williams, the board members, and, most critically, the PCAOB’s staff may meaningfully fulfill that responsibility.

Robust Financial Reporting And Effective Gatekeepers: In Support Of The PCAOB’s FY 2024 Budget, SEC Commissioner Jaime Lizárraga, Dec. 13, 2023

Date 13/12/2023

In 2002, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the final version of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on a nearly unanimous vote of 423-3. The same legislation passed the U.S. Senate by a unanimous vote of 99-0.

Twenty Years, Forty %?: Statement On The 2024 Final Budget And Accounting Support Fee For The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce, Dec. 13, 2023

Date 13/12/2023

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) opened its doors in 2003 to promote “informative, accurate, and independent audit reports.” We sit here, twenty years later, considering the PCAOB’s $385 million budget. We owe it to the public companies and broker-dealers that fund the PCAOB and the investors that rely on the PCAOB to ask how well it is doing its important job, which is why we are having an open meeting on this topic.

The Treasury Market: Improving Transparency And Stability, SEC Commissioner Jaime Lizárraga, Dec. 13, 2023

Date 13/12/2023

The $26 trillion U.S. Treasury market plays a critical role in the global economy. Market participants worldwide depend on it for investing, collateral, and hedging, and as a benchmark for the pricing of other securities. It also serves as the Federal Reserve’s main tool for monetary policy.

SEC: Credit Suisse Entities To Pay $10 Million For Providing Prohibited Mutual Fund Services - New Jersey Court Order Caused Disqualification Of Certain Credit Suisse Entities

Date 13/12/2023

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and two affiliated Credit Suisse entities (collectively, the Credit Suisse Entities) agreed to pay more than $10 million to settle the SEC’s charges that they provided prohibited underwriting and advising services to mutual funds.

Robinhood Markets, Inc. Reports November 2023 Operating Data

Date 13/12/2023

Robinhood Markets, Inc. (“Robinhood”) (NASDAQ: HOOD) today reported selected monthly operating data for November 2023:

Opening Statement Of CFTC Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson Regarding The Open Commission Meeting On December 13, 2023

Date 13/12/2023

Good morning. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

It is a pleasure to welcome everyone joining us for this monumental meeting today. We will consider two proposed rules that represent the Commission taking invaluable steps toward addressing the most pressing issues in our markets—issues that are at the frontier of an undeniable transformation in global financial markets.  We will also consider an application for registration of a derivatives clearing organization interested in enabling digital asset trading in our markets. This application immediately illustrates the urgent need for swift, decisive action and a clear direction of travel from the Commission on evolving market structures enabling the trading of crypto or any novel asset class as well as traditional derivatives products.

Careening Toward Clearing: Statement On Rules To Improve Risk Management In Clearance And Settlement And To Facilitate Additional Central Clearing For The U.S. Treasury Market, SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce, Dec. 13, 2023

Date 13/12/2023

Thank you, Mr. Chair. A government that routinely runs substantial deficits needs to be cautious when structuring the rules for the markets in which it borrows. Additional central clearing in the U.S. Treasury market may be one way to strengthen the market to ensure that it can absorb the ever-increasing Treasury issuances, but how we get to increased central clearing matters. The recommendation that the Commission is considering today would commit the market to what may be a reckless ride down the path to mandatory clearing, with no brakes or off-ramps in the event the market takes a bad turn. Accordingly, I cannot support it.