SEC to Consider New Oversight Rules on Platforms for Trading US Treasuries

Gary Gensler, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman, commented on Tuesday that the watchdog would consider new supervisory rules for some platforms for trading US Treasuries. According to Reuters, the maneuver seeks to bolster transparency and competition across the markets.

“I’ve asked staff to reconsider (bringing)… certain Treasury trading platforms into the SEC’s regulatory regime and to make recommendations,” Gensler noted, who also opened the doors to oversee other kinds of trading platforms if necessary within this new ruling. The news agency quoted analysts saying that crypto trading platforms could also fall under the SEC’s oversight under this rule if the plans go as expected.

Moreover, Gensler suggested that the SEC may consider altering the rules governing equity trading so that smaller companies’ stocks are priced at smaller increments as well as to reevaluate the components of best bids and offers. Also, he plans to address any conflicts of interest that may potentially spark in how online brokers use digital engagement practices when marketing to investors.

These comments coming from the US SEC Chief come in the midst of the concerns regarding the illiquidity in the US Treasuries market, which could eventually lead the market players to push the US Federal Reserve (Fed) to accelerate interest rates hikes.

US SEC Latest Developments on Cryptos

Last week, the SEC rejected at least one of the two recent Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications because of the risky nature of the leveraged financial products. The latest announcement from the SEC came nearly two days after Valkyrie filed for a leveraged Bitcoin futures ETF and Direxion applied for an inverse fund for bears.

Also, the authority expects to have enough legal power over stablecoins like Tether (USDT). In fact, the US SEC could be greenlighted at any time soon to establish a series of guidelines on how to police these tokens.