tybs
dat time for four legs
Geithner Panel Warns of More Treasuries Meltdowns Without Reform
A panel of former top global economic policy makers on Wednesday warned that major trading disruptions in U.S. Treasuries are likely to increase unless reforms are made, adding to pressure on American regulators to fix structural issues that contributed to last year’s market meltdown.
“Confidence in the U.S. Treasury market, and its ability to function efficiently even in times of stress, is critical to the stability of the global financial system,” former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who led a blue-ribbon panel reviewing trading in U.S. government securities, said in a statement. Geithner and colleagues including five former central bank heads released a raft of recommendations to bolster the resilience of the market for Treasuries, which seized up in March 2020 amid a desperate global rush for cash dollars. Many of the proposals reinforce similar calls made in recent months and years.
Their top proposal is the creation by the Federal Reserve of a so-called standing repo facility, a permanent mechanism for providing short-term financing to financial institutions through repurchase agreements. Fed policy makers are now discussing just such a step. Regulators should also look at altering bank-capital rules to minimize disincentives for market-making in Treasuries, the group said. “Episodes of market dysfunction are not only likely to continue but to occur with increasing frequency” unless market-making capacity for Treasuries trading is increased or the U.S. halts the rapid build-up of its debt outstanding, the group said. The panel, convened by the Group of 30 a consultative assembly of financiers, academics and former officials also urged that access to Fed repos be “widened substantially” beyond the designated primary dealers in U.S. debt. Fed officials have discussed also allowing banks.
The group, which includes Geithner’s fellow former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, recommended an expanded role for the central clearing of Treasuries trades, which could increase transparency, reduce failed settlements and establish margin requirements that impose a uniform cap on leverage. Little more than 20% of Treasuries trading has been centrally cleared in recent years, the panel said. “Taken as a whole, we believe our recommendations would make a meaningful contribution to improving the functioning of the Treasury market, both in normal times and in periods of crisis,” Geithner said.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in March set an examination of vulnerabilities in the Treasuries market as one of three priorities for the Financial Stability Oversight Council this year. She didn’t reveal a timeline for recommended changes. The G-30 panel’s report put the “root cause” of the episodes of disruption in Treasuries trading in recent years down to a surge in federal U.S. debt accompanied by a tighter regulatory regime for bank capital in the aftermath of the 2007-09 financial crisis.
The group’s recommendations included:
*Creation of a standing repo facility by the Fed, with terms that “discourage use of the facility in normal market conditions without stigmatizing its use under stress”
*All trades of Treasury securities executed on electronic inter-dealer trading platforms that offer anonymous trading should be centrally cleared
*Treasury repos should be centrally cleared
*The Treasury Department should lead a review of the design and operation of the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation, the only central clearinghouse for Treasuries
*Banking regulators should review rules with a view to modifying those that discourage market intermediation
*The TRACE reporting system should be expanded to capture all transactions in Treasury securities and Treasury repos
*The Treasury should lead an inter-agency study to re-examine all exemptions of Treasury securities from U.S. securities laws, and prepare annual reports on Treasury market functioning
Geithner served as chair of the working group. The project director was Patrick Parkinson, a former Fed official who’s now at the Bank Policy Institute. Parkinson co-wrote a paper last year with Nellie Liang, now the Treasury undersecretary of domestic finance, on enhancing liquidity in Treasuries. Panel members included former heads of the central banks of the U.K., Japan, Germany, Brazil and Mexico along with other ex-senior Fed officials.
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/geithner-panel-warns-of-more-treasuries-meltdowns-without-reform-1.1633896
Not AF1 Joe in 09-0017 USAF C-32A departed JBA to Lehigh Valley International Airport, Allentown, PA
Not Af1 Joe headed to Pennsylvania to prioritize U.S. manufacturing amid rule changes
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2021/07/28/joe-biden-manufacturing-pennsylvania/8811627468714/
INVALID USAF A-10 BRRRRTTTT heading back to Martin Airport
Appropos call sign as Not AF1 Joe departs
DOJ Warns States to Protect Ballots Amid Controversial Audits
The Justice Department warned state and local officials about their obligations to protect the voting process and ballots as Republican-controlled legislatures pursue controversial audits of the 2020 election and push new laws that take powers away from election authorities.
The department issued guidance Wednesday providing information about the obligation to retain and preserve ballots and federal laws that govern how eligible voters can cast their ballots, according to Justice Department officials who previewed the documents for reporters before releasing them publicly. The guidance comes as states led by Arizona pursue ad hoc audits of the 2020 election in response to demands from former President Donald Trump and his supporters, some of whom claim without evidence that the vote was tainted by widespread fraud. Several Republican-controlled states also are passing laws that impose restrictions for future elections. The Justice Department is concerned that states might not be complying with federal laws when they conduct audits, one of the officials briefing reporters Wednesday said. The documents are intended to warn state and local officials that they can’t perform audits in a way that is going to intimidate voters, the official said.
The department also is concerned about intimidation and threats against election officials. The documents set down a marker that the Justice Department is watching what’s going on in states around the country and will be following the actions closely, the official said.
The Republican-driven audit of the 2020 election in Arizona’s largest county is being done by Cyber Ninjas Inc., a Florida-based firm hired by Arizona Senate Republicans. Arizona Democrats sued to halt the audit, arguing that the head of Cyber Ninjas has promoted Trump’s baseless election fraud claims and alleging that the firm’s contractors are violating state law in their failure to protect Maricopa County’s 2.1 million ballots, hundreds of tabulation machines and voter information. However an Arizona judge ruled in April that the audit could move forward.
The Justice Department’s guidance is also meant to inform officials that federal protections for ballots apply regardless of whether the ballots are in the hands of government officials or a private company. Attorney General Merrick Garland pledged in June to issue the guidance documents. “We are scrutinizing new laws that seek to curb voter access and where we see violations we will not hesitate to act,” Garland said at the time.
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/doj-warns-states-to-protect-ballots-amid-controversial-audits-1.1633946
Opposition lawmaker Hiranao Honda to quit over age of consent comments
Lawmaker Hiranao Honda submitted a letter of resignation to the head of the Lower House Wednesday, after leaving the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan on Tuesday over inappropriate comments he made regarding the age of consent.
The CDP leadership accepted his resignation from the party, instead of suspending his party membership for a year as had been considered. In a news conference on Tuesday, Honda suggested that he would step down as a member of the House of Representatives, noting that he was elected on the CDP ticket from a proportional representation bloc. “I want to apologize from my heart for the expressions that made people feel uncomfortable and any imagery that may hurt victims,” said Honda, who was elected from the bloc for Hokkaido. When asked whether he will run in the upcoming Lower House election to be held by this autumn, Honda said that he was “not thinking at all about the future.”
In a separate news conference, CDP Secretary-General Tetsuro Fukuyama also apologized over “betraying the hopes of many supporters.” In a party meeting on May 10, Honda is believed to have said: “I’m not far off 50 years old, but if I had sex with a 14-year-old, I would be arrested, even if there was consent. It’s strange.”
The comment drew criticism from both in and outside the party. Honda withdrew the remark and apologized, and Fukuyama gave him a verbal warning. But the party leadership began considering a harsher punishment after continued criticism from several groups, including those who support victims of sexual assault. On July 13, the leadership team proposed to the CDP ethics committee that Honda be suspended from the party for one year.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/07/28/national/cdp-hiranao-honda-resign-consent/
he not wrong but yeah shoulda stayed schtum.
One thing to understand dat...much different to voice it in dat way
Don't disagree at all...you'd think someone woulda said "hey mebby you don't wanna bring that up in that way"
These politicians just can't help themselves no matter wut
he steals it again, like 2018 and then we see who really lives in CA right?
Plenty of Patriots, I noes-met many of them.
That reaction , if stolen again, gonna be another ff imo-but the difference between real outrage and that shit is rapidly decreasing cause we all fed up wif it
Not advocating violent reactions at all but i can see/feel the angst at this and many are not calm or 'cucumber-like'.
You have to be to live here
Still think they not gonna let that habben at all.
And if another gets in it's gonna be moar of the same
Hope I am 100% wrong d'oh
Fed Says Progress Made Toward Conditions for Tapering Bond Buys
Federal Reserve officials indicated they have begun discussing when to tap the brakes on their robust support for the U.S. economy amid an inflation surge, even as the delta variant of the coronavirus poses a increasing threat to growth.
The central bank kept the target range for its benchmark policy rate unchanged at zero to 0.25% and adjusted language to say that it had pledged in December to continue asset purchases at a $120 billion monthly pace until “substantial further progress” had been made on employment and inflation. “The economy has made progress toward these goals, and the committee will continue to assess progress in coming meetings,” the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement released Wednesday. They repeated language that inflation had run persistently below the Fed’s long-run 2% goal. The Fed also announced that it established two standing repurchase-agreement facilities. “These facilities will serve as backstops in money markets to support the effective implementation of monetary policy and smooth market functioning,” the Fed said in a separate statement.
Consumer prices are rising at the fastest pace since 2008 as the economy reopens and Americans renew spending after a year of lockdown. At the same time, the spreading delta variant of the coronavirus has jolted investors who worry it could threaten the economic recovery. The FOMC vote was unanimous. Chair Jerome Powell will hold a virtual press conference at 2:30 p.m. in Washington.
Since last September, the Fed has set the amount of its monthly purchases of Treasuries at $80 billion and mortgage-backed securities at $40 billion to help the economy heal from Covid-19. Powell has said the Fed would begin talking about when and how to taper its bond purchases at this meeting. He’s also promised plenty of advance warning before any decision to start scaling them back. Some officials have said they would like to begin the taper sooner rather than later, citing financial-stability concerns including the steep rise in home prices. They’ve also argued the Fed should reduce its MBS purchases at a faster pace than Treasuries because the housing market no longer needs central bank support. The July meeting comes a month ahead of the Kansas City Fed’s annual policy retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Fed chairs, including Powell, have sometimes used the venue to signal policy shifts. The next gathering of the FOMC is Sept. 21-22. Any move to shrink policy support will be based on progress on the Fed’s goals for jobs and inflation.
Employment has made significant strides in the past few months, with the unemployment rate falling below 6% as more jobs are added and more workers rejoin the labor force. But the gains haven’t been equal for all Americans -- the Black unemployment rate stood at 9.2% and the Hispanic rate at 7.4% in June.
While inflation is running well above the Fed’s 2% target, officials have said that price spikes are likely temporary and are being driven by categories related to the economic reopening.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/fed-says-progress-made-toward-conditions-for-tapering-bond-buys-1.1634008
Fed Launches Foreign, Domestic Standing Repo Facilities
As was heavily hinted at in the June FOMC Minutes, moments ago in addition to its slightly dovish FOMC statement, the NY Fed unveiled that at long last it was establishing two standing repo facilities: one for domestic counterparties, and one for foreign and international monetary authorities (FIMA repo facility).
The domestic Standing Repo Facility will have a minimum bid rate of 0.25 percent and with an aggregate operation limit of $500 billion, and will be cleared and settled on the tri-party repo platform. This is largely a replica of the existing repo facility.
More importantly, the Fed is also launching an foreign overnight repo facility which will offer overnight repo at a rate of 0.25% to foreign central bank and international accounts against their holdings of Treasury securities maintained in custody at the New York Fed, subject to a per-counterparty limit of $60 billion.
As the NY Fed adds, these facilities will serve as backstops in money markets to support the effective implementation of monetary policy and smooth market functioning. In other words, going forward any institutions that face a funding shortage can pledge whatever collateral they have with the Fed and receive liquidity instantly. This should substantially eliminate the risk of significant dollar funding crises in the future.
Standing Repo Facility-Under the SRF, the FOMC directed the Open Market Trading Desk (the Desk) at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to conduct overnight repo operations with a minimum bid rate of 0.25 percent and with an aggregate operation limit of $500 billion, effective July 29, 2021. As with the Desk’s existing repo operations, the SRF will be cleared and settled on the tri-party repo platform. Treasury, agency debt, and agency mortgage-backed securities will continue to be accepted. All other terms will be the same as the existing overnight repo operations. Primary dealers will continue to be counterparties for repo operations under the SRF. The SRF counterparties will be expanded to include additional depository institutions. Initially, criteria will be established to effectively manage onboarding of interested depository institutions. Consistent with the New York Fed’s commitment to ensuring its counterparty policies promote a fair and competitive marketplace, these criteria will be adjusted over time to expand depository institution eligibility. The initial criteria will allow depository institutions with holdings of Treasury, agency debt, and agency mortgage-backed securities greater than $5 billion as of June 30, 2021 or with total assets greater than $30 billion to express interest starting on October 1, 2021. All counterparties must be able to transact on the tri-party repo platform. Additional information on the SRF can be found at the Repo and Reverse Repo Agreements page or in Frequently Asked Questions.
FIMA Repo Facility-Under the FIMA repo facility, the FOMC directed the Desk to offer overnight repo transactions at a rate of 0.25 percent to foreign central bank and international accounts against their holdings of Treasury securities maintained in custody at the New York Fed, subject to a per-counterparty limit of $60 billion. Eligible counterparties are foreign official institutions with custody accounts at the New York Fed that have been approved by the Foreign Currency Subcommittee of the FOMC.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/fed-launches-foreign-domestic-standing-repo-facilities
Statement Regarding Repurchase Agreements
July 28, 2021
https://www.newyorkfed.org/markets/opolicy/operating_policy_210728
Reverse Repo for 072821 was: $965.18B with 74 counterparties-cap #2
Second highest amount ever
This number will be included on Fridays weekly update of that operation
https://apps.newyorkfed.org/markets/autorates/temp
09-0017 USAF C-32A departed Lehigh Valley International Airport, Allentown, PA to JBA
>planefags trust websites showing...How do you know that this is really happening in reality?
Not everything is a mystery
See many AC's on scope and wif own eyes at same time.
SAM915 USAF C-32A departed Rockford, IL after a ground stop se and did a left turn just south of Atlanta-wherever it was heading to it's not any longer....not weather related either.
This is a high-level AC and used by State Dept for overseas travel and has been used as secondary AF2 as well in the past-tail #98-0002 used by Hillbags, Lurch, KANSAS, Blinken for Sec. of State duty
Tail #98-0001 was used as primary AF2 for many years until earlier this year when it vansished from use-the same can be said for tail #92-9000 747 that has not been seen since arriving at Lackland AFB San Antonio on Nov. 23, 2020-please see the Planefag101 thread in the catalog here for moar background on those two AC's.
SAM974 USAF G5 on descent for JBA
Departed Orlando Int'l also after a ground stop-SAM931 made a quick stop here on 0725 and then returned to JBA
SAM000 (chek't) USAF G5 on final for JB Lewis-McChord from Buckley AFB Denver, Co
Departed Buckley AFB-Denver, CO after an overnight and inbound from MacDill AFB ground stop and JBA origin yesterday
SAM915 USAF C-32A on final at JBA after it's long-winded route from Rockford, IL ground stop
good here