Scott Seeks Innovation, Competitiveness, Responsibility, Administrative Neutrality
Announcing his priorities for this Congress, Senate Banking Ranking Member Tim Scott (R-SC) struck the guarded stance in favor of bipartisan cooperation expressed yesterday by HFSC Chairman McHenry (R-NC). His top priority is increasing credit availability, with a mention of global competitiveness suggesting perhaps some interest in the Basel proposals as well as the need to advance fintech expressly mentioned in his release. Like Rep. McHenry, Sen. Scott also highlights regulatory accountability; unlike the HFSC chairman, he cannot call hearings to achieve this although he can of course ask committee witnesses pointed questions.
GAO Presses Need For MMF Reform
As required by the CARES Act, the GAO today issued a study on the March 2020 MMF runs that led the SEC to propose reforms last February (see FSM Report MMF19). It finds that the SEC’s current MMF liquid assets rules (see FSM Report MMF13) not only failed to prevent MMF runs during the pandemic, but also may have contributed to them by encouraging preemptive MMF share redemption. It also finds that, even though no MMF imposed a fee or gate in March 2020, their possibility likely contributed to redemption incentives.