On July 13, 2015, the US Department of Treasury, the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued a joint report analyzing the significant volatility in the US Treasury market on October 15, 2014. The joint report provides insight and detailed analysis of the market conditions and offers a number of developments which may help explain the conditions that likely contributed to the volatility. Specifically, the report finds that among other things, changes in global risk sentiment and investor positions, a decline in order book depth and changes in order flow and liquidity provision together provide important insight into the developments of that day. The report also highlights the changing structure of the US Treasury market and proposes next steps to further enhance the public and private sectors' understanding of changes to the structure of the US Treasury market and their implications. The report recommends continued analysis of US Treasury market structure and functioning, focusing on trading and risk management practices, the availability of public data and continued efforts to strengthen monitoring and inter-agency coordination related to trading across the US Treasury cash and futures markets.
The joint report is available at: http://www.sec.gov/reportspubs/special-studies/treasury-market-volatility-10-14-2014-joint-report.pdf .
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
