All posts tagged: Treasury

Bessent moves to curb Treasury yields, putting pressure on Warsh’s Fed

Bessent moves to curb Treasury yields, putting pressure on Warsh’s Fed

Published by Sam Flores

Scott Bessent, US treasury secretary, gives remarks during the launch of the “Fostering the Future Accounts” at the US Treasury Department in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, June 11, 2026. Aaron Schwartz | Bloomberg | Getty Images Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is in the midst of a historic effort to tamp down long-term Treasury yields. He may also be complicating the work of his counterpart at the Federal Reserve, Chairman Kevin Warsh. The Treasury Department on Wednesday said it would increase its buybacks of long-term Treasury debt, raising the maximum it will buy from $2 billion to at least $4 billion. The intervention had the effect of stemming a sell-off in the Treasury market that has pushed up yields to uncomfortable levels in recent days. The selloff had dominated global headlines as investors worried that rising Treasury yields would worsen an affordability crisis for consumers, complicate businesses’ borrowing plans, threaten stock-market gains and make it more expensive for the government to finance its burgeoning debt.  While the buybacks aren’t large compared to the total amount …

Woman Accused of Plotting to Kill Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Is Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison

Woman Accused of Plotting to Kill Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Is Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Massachusetts woman who told police that she brought homemade firebombs to the U.S. Capitol to kill Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was sentenced on Tuesday to just over six years in prison. Riley English, a 26-year-old transgender woman, said she was in the grips of a mental health crisis and abusing drugs when she drove to Washington in January 2025 and told Capitol police that she was there to kill Bessent on the day of his Senate confirmation. “I never wanted to hurt anyone,” she told U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras. “I’m not a political person. I’m not a violent person.” Contreras, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Barack Obama, sentenced English to six years and one month of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release. English has remained jailed since her arrest and will get credit for the nearly 20 months that she already has spent in custody. She pleaded guilty in March to two weapons charges. “You’ve had a very difficult life,” Contreras told English. “Hopefully, …

Grassley, Whitehouse blast Treasury decision on FinCEN

Grassley, Whitehouse blast Treasury decision on FinCEN

Published by Sam Flores

Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) issued a statement Thursday blasting the Treasury Department’s decision to exempt 99 percent of entities from their previous requirement to report beneficial ownership to the department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN. The senators issued a joint statement warning the final rule, which was published Tuesday, undermines… Source link

US Treasury Informed Banks It May Intervene In Japan’s Yen, As Market Laughs At BOJ’s Own Attempts To Prop Up Currency

US Treasury Informed Banks It May Intervene In Japan’s Yen, As Market Laughs At BOJ’s Own Attempts To Prop Up Currency

Published by Jenni Sidey

While the BOJ understandably refuses to admit it spent a record $140BN (across all markets, $90BN on EBS) to briefly manipulate the Japanese yen higher… … ahead of yet another disappointing (non-rate hike) decision (according to some calculations, Japan’s central bank is about 100 bps of rate hikes behind to stop the ongoing collapse of the yen), others are less shy.  According to Reuters, similar to the last failed intervention by Japan and citing “a source familiar with the matter”, the US Treasury informed a number of ‌banks that it may intervene in the Japanese yen market on Friday and that they should “stand ready for future action.” The notice to banks, channeled through the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, comes a day after Japanese authorities stepped in to prop up the yen, setting ​the currency up for its biggest weekly rise since February, pulling it off of four-decade lows against the dollar (although the yen has since erased much of its gains).  News of ​the potential intervention by the U.S. Treasury helped push …

US Treasury Sells 9BN In Two Polar Opposite Auctions: A Stellar 2Y And A Dismal 5Y

US Treasury Sells $139BN In Two Polar Opposite Auctions: A Stellar 2Y And A Dismal 5Y

Published by Jenni Sidey

Ahead of Wednesday’s FOMC decision (where according to SOFR futures, the odds of a rate hike are a significant 38%, even as most traders expect no action by the Fed), we had the week’s first two coupon auctions take place according to an abbreviated schedule, with the sale of $69BN in 2Y notes taking place at 11:30am, followed by $70BN in 5Y notes. And while the former was unexpectedly strong, the latter was one of the ugliest 5Y auctions in years. Here are the details. The 2Y auction priced at a high yield of 4.315%, up from 4.189%, and the highest since December 2024. More importantly, it stopped through the 4.320% When Issued by 0.5bps, the third stop through in a row, and the highest since January.  The bid to cover was solid, at 2.662, it was also the highest since January.  The internals were likewise solid, with Indirects taking down 56.6%, up from 55.5%, if below the recent average of 58.2%. And with Directs awarded 34.1%, roughly flat with 34.3% last month, Dealers were …

Treasury threatens sanctions after White House claims Moonshot distilled Anthropic’s Fable

Treasury threatens sanctions after White House claims Moonshot distilled Anthropic’s Fable

Published by skeptic

U.S. Treasury secretary Scott Bessent doubled down on his warnings to Chinese AI companies on Wednesday, saying that sanctions remain on the table after a White House official accused Moonshot of improperly distilling Anthropic’s Fable model.  Model distillation is a common AI training technique in which a smaller model learns from the outputs of a larger one. While this process can infringe on intellectual property rights, it’s also widely used as a legitimate optimization method.  “Open source is not open season on American IP,” Bessent posted on X. “When [Chinese] firms conduct covert, industrial-scale distillation attacks that cross the line into IP theft, sanctions and Entity List designations will be on the table.” Earlier this week, Bessent stated that the U.S. government would examine open source models from China for signs of intellectual property theft and impose sanctions if found.  Bessent’s latest remarks come hours after the White House’s science and technology policy chief Michael Kratsios accused the China-based Moonshot of conducting large-scale distillation against U.S. models. He alleged that Moonshot had acquired Nvidia’s “GB300-equipped …

With Friday Treasury Action, There Goes The ‘No New Sanctions’ Clause Of The MOU

With Friday Treasury Action, There Goes The ‘No New Sanctions’ Clause Of The MOU

Published by Jenni Sidey

The United States unveiled new sanctions on Iran Friday, an act which crucially breaks a key aspect of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreement signed last month – namely that no new sanctions can be imposed while the warring sides negotiate to reach a lasting peace. The ceasefire itself is already out the window, President Trump has said late this week, amid contradictory reports over indirect talks being back on. The new US Treasury action specifically targets an Iranian businessman accused of managing a global financial network for the country’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei The US is also going after multiple exchange houses that Washington says seek to get around sanctions and maintain access to foreign currency. The three entities named are Mohammad Darbani and Partners, Lavasani and Partners, and Mohsen Khandan and Partners – along with their managing partners. After earlier boasting that he helped engineer a currency collapse in order to get masses into the streets – related to the last January protests – Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent now says he cares about the “Iranian …

NI finances need to move on to ‘long-term sustainable footing’ – Benn

NI finances need to move on to ‘long-term sustainable footing’ – Benn

Published by Sam Flores

“There will be further work that’s going to continue tomorrow, and then hopefully over the summer as well, importantly, sharing information about the current status of budget pressures, the drivers behind those pressures and, as well, emphasis on the plans for fiscal reform that we hope will help to ensure that the Executive’s finances can move on to that sustainable footing.” Source link

Civil servants ditch maths tests for jobs at Treasury | UK | News

Civil servants ditch maths tests for jobs at Treasury | UK | News

Published by Sam Flores

The Treasury scrapped a numerical exam from its graduate scheme in a bid to improve diversity, it has emerged. In 2020, shortly after the death of George Floyd, the government department, now headed by Rachel Reeves, quietly removed the numeracy test from its application process due to suggestions it had an “adverse impact” on candidate diversity. Whitehall also complained about “extremely high benchmarks”, which led the Treasury to drop verbal reasoning exams. The “Civil Service Strengths Test” was then implemented by bosses. It asked candidates whether they “prefer not to have to concentrate on one thing for too long”. Fury has erupted after The Spectator obtained the documents, which have been described as “insane”. In Freedom of Information requests obtained by the magazine, The Spectator reported that the Treasury had concluded that its policy adviser graduate programme was not diverse enough, after a review of its 2019 scheme. The review recommended removing the numeracy test. Since the measure in 2020, the diversity of candidates who passed the application process has subsequently increased. It has been …

Why Andy Burnham’s radical plan relies on the Treasury being a friend of devolution

Why Andy Burnham’s radical plan relies on the Treasury being a friend of devolution

Published by Sam Flores

Andy Burnham has built his reputation on championing regional devolution – as Greater Manchester’s mayor he was celebrated as the “king of the north”. If, as now seems likely, he becomes prime minister next month, a “devolution blitz” is expected to follow. But it will only succeed if Burnham can bring the Treasury with him. Burnham’s unique mix of experience in cabinet, shadow cabinet and as mayor may well enable him to achieve this. But the fundamental issue of the need for the Treasury to loosen its grip is a central, yet overlooked, challenge. The commentary however is focused on who Burnham might appoint as chancellor of the exchequer. Getting the relationship between a prime minister and chancellor right is, of course, vital. As chief secretary to the Treasury, Burnham witnessed at firsthand the fractious dynamic between the then prime minister, Gordon Brown, and his chancellor, Alistair Darling, and the damage that such tensions cause. And conversely, George Osborne’s early devolution agenda – in which Burnham played a significant role as Manchester mayor – was …