The Office of Financial Research released results of its survey of the bilateral repo markets.  The report, "The U.S. Bilateral Repo Market: Lessons from a New Survey,” provides aggregate statistics on U.S. dealers’ bilateral repo agreements and economically equivalent securities lending activities. The data for three "snapshot" dates in 1Q2015 were collected from the U.S.-affiliated securities dealers of nine bank holding companies as part of a voluntary pilot program run by the OFR and the Fed with input from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In a report published earlier this week, the Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) found that, among the major jurisdictions in the money market fund industry, the United States has made the most progress in regulatory reforms.  

In its most recent Annual Report, the Office of Financial Research (OFR) warns that despite the strengthening global financial system, threats to financial stability still remain, and it is no time for complacency.  Formed in 2010 as a part of the Treasury Department under a mandate in the Dodd-Frank Act, the OFR is charged with improving the quality of financial data available to policymakers and to facilitate more robust and sophisticated analysis of the financial system.  As part of its mission, in an annual report to Congress, the OFR analyzes potential threats to U.S. financial stability, documents significant progress in meeting the mission of the Office, and reports on key research findings.  This year’s document reports that, though the financial system has continued to recover and strengthen, and threats to financial stability are presently moderate, several financial stability risks have increased.  The three most important are excessive risktaking in some markets, vulnerabilities associated with declining market liquidity, and the migration of financial activities toward opaque and less resilient corners of the financial system.