William C Dudley: The evolving structure of the US Treasury Market Conference – welcoming remarks Welcoming remarks by Mr William C Dudley, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, at the evolving structure of the US treasury market conference, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, New York City, 20 November 2015. *  *  *  Frank Keane, Michael McMorrow, Joseph Tracy and Nate Wuerffel assisted in preparing these remarks. It is my pleasure to welcome you to this conference on the evolving structure of the U.S. Treasury market. As you all know, the Treasury market plays a unique and crucial role in our economy, and in global financial markets more broadly. Treasury securities serve as a liquid investment and hedging vehicle for global investors, a ready source of collateral for many financial transactions and serve as a risk-free benchmark for other financial instruments. The Treasury market is important for the Federal Reserve’s implementation of monetary policy and also is a focus here at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in our statutory role as the Treasury’s fiscal agent. The Treasury market also helps to underpin the U.S. dollar’s status as the global reserve currency. And, of course, it is the primary means for borrowing to finance the U.S. federal government. 1 In recent years, the structure of the Treasury market has changed significantly. Trading has become increasingly electronic, and, in many cases, highly automated.
As you all know, the Joint Staff Report concluded that further work is necessary in light of the evolving structure of the Treasury market, and it also highlighted a series of additional steps that the official sector will take to evaluate its approach to this market. I remain very supportive of these efforts. In fact, this conference is among the first of those next steps, and presents a perfect opportunity to have a rich debate on the market’s evolving structure and the actions that may be appropriate in response. Thank you once again for coming here today. I look forward to our engagement and discussion. 4  The TMPG has since expanded its mandate to include the agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) markets. 5  A more recent and equally successful practice has also been instituted for the MBS market. 2  BIS central bankers’ speeches