US financial regulators determined that the infrastructure of stock and commodity markets remained “resilient” during the volatility in trading seen over the past few weeks.
“The regulators believe the core infrastructure was resilient during high volatility and heavy trading volume,” according to a statement issued by the US Department of the Treasury following a meeting on Thursday convened by US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen.
Officials also agreed that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) should issue a “timely study of the events.”
Yellen called the confab after surges in stocks including GameStop Corp and sudden trading curbs on smaller, retail investors spurred concerns about consumer protections.
The SEC is investigating for signs of fraud, while key US House of Representative and Senate committees are planning hearings.
The SEC and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are also “reviewing whether trading practices are consistent with investor protection and fair and efficient markets,” the department said on Thursday.
The gathering brought together the heads of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve, the SEC, the CFTC and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which serves as the central bank’s main monitor of Wall Street.
Yellen “believes it is imperative to uphold the integrity of these markets and ensure investor protection,” the department said.
The meeting gave the administration of US President Joe Biden a chance to demonstrate that itj is attuned to complaints about potential manipulation and unfair investor treatment after two congressional committees moved to hold hearings.
The controversy erupted late last month during a spectacular clash between retail investors and powerful hedge funds that pushed a handful of stocks, including GameStop, in opposite directions. That clash raised concerns over whether some investors were engaged in share-price manipulation.
However, the dust-up escalated when several broker-dealers were forced to post much higher collateral to cover the cash commitments behind massive buy orders in suddenly volatile shares.
That prompted Robinhood Markets Inc and other brokers catering to retail traders to suspend buying in certain shares, enraging customers and bringing accusations of unfair treatment.
ELECTRONICS BOOST: A predicted surge in exports would likely be driven by ICT products, exports of which have soared 84.7 percent from a year earlier, DBS said DBS Bank Ltd (星展銀行) yesterday raised its GDP growth forecast for Taiwan this year to 4 percent from 3 percent, citing robust demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-related exports and accelerated shipment activity, which are expected to offset potential headwinds from US tariffs. “Our GDP growth forecast for 2025 is revised up to 4 percent from 3 percent to reflect front-loaded exports and strong AI demand,” Singapore-based DBS senior economist Ma Tieying (馬鐵英) said in an online briefing. Taiwan’s second-quarter performance beat expectations, with GDP growth likely surpassing 5 percent, driven by a 34.1 percent year-on-year increase in exports, Ma said, citing government
UNIFYING OPPOSITION: Numerous companies have registered complaints over the potential levies, bringing together rival automakers in voicing their reservations US President Donald Trump is readying plans for industry-specific tariffs to kick in alongside his country-by-country duties in two weeks, ramping up his push to reshape the US’ standing in the global trading system by penalizing purchases from abroad. Administration officials could release details of Trump’s planned 50 percent duty on copper in the days before they are set to take effect on Friday next week, a person familiar with the matter said. That is the same date Trump’s “reciprocal” levies on products from more than 100 nations are slated to begin. Trump on Tuesday said that he is likely to impose tariffs
HELPING HAND: Approving the sale of H20s could give China the edge it needs to capture market share and become the global standard, a US representative said The US President Donald Trump administration’s decision allowing Nvidia Corp to resume shipments of its H20 artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China risks bolstering Beijing’s military capabilities and expanding its capacity to compete with the US, the head of the US House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party said. “The H20, which is a cost-effective and powerful AI inference chip, far surpasses China’s indigenous capability and would therefore provide a substantial increase to China’s AI development,” committee chairman John Moolenaar, a Michigan Republican, said on Friday in a letter to US Secretary of
‘REMARKABLE SHOWING’: The economy likely grew 5 percent in the first half of the year, although it would likely taper off significantly, TIER economist Gordon Sun said The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) yesterday raised Taiwan’s GDP growth forecast for this year to 3.02 percent, citing robust export-driven expansion in the first half that is likely to give way to a notable slowdown later in the year as the front-loading of global shipments fades. The revised projection marks an upward adjustment of 0.11 percentage points from April’s estimate, driven by a surge in exports and corporate inventory buildup ahead of possible US tariff hikes, TIER economist Gordon Sun (孫明德) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy likely grew more than 5 percent in the first six months
RSS