Washington, D.C., December 1, 2018 – SIFMA today recommended all fixed-income cash markets close Wednesday December 5, 2018 in honor of the national day of mourning for former U.S. President George H.W. Bush. SIFMA made its recommendation following President Donald Trump's announcement that the U.S. government will be closed on Wednesday in honor of Mr. Bush.
SIFMA is also recommending that secondary market cash transactions in U.S. government and federal agency securities, executed on Tuesday December 4, 2018 and normally settling on Wednesday December 5, 2018, should instead settle on Thursday December 6, 2018 where practical.
SIFMA is issuing no other settlement recommendations with respect to other fixed income products, including but not limited to, settlement dates for repurchase and reverse repurchase transactions. Settlements in municipal and corporate securities will not be affected given that DTCC/NSCC will remain open on Wednesday.
SIFMA's trading recommendations apply to transactions of U.S. dollar denominated U.S. Government and agency securities, mortgage- and asset-backed securities, over-the-counter investment-grade and high-yield corporate bonds, municipal bonds and secondary money market trading in bankers acceptances, commercial paper and Yankee and Euro certificates of deposit.
SIFMA understands that a number of primary dealers intend to provide limited staffing on funding desks on Wednesday in order to accommodate continued settlement activity and any potential open-market operations by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
SIFMA's recommended full market closes are recommendations only. Each member firm should decide for itself whether its fixed-income departments remain open for trading. For example, notwithstanding the recommended full market close, some amount of trading activity in the commercial paper markets may take place to provide liquidity for corporate issuers.
All SIFMA recommendations are subject to change due to market conditions.