Release Date: March 21, 2012
Contact: Liz Pierce, (212) 313-1173, lpierce@sifma.org

SIFMA Recommends Early Market Close on April 6 for Trading of US Dollar-Denominated Fixed-Income Securities in the US in Observance of the Good Friday Holiday

New York, N.Y., March 21, 2012 — The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) has confirmed its early close recommendation of 12:00 p.m., EDT, on Friday, April 6, for the trading of U.S. dollar-denominated fixed-income securities in the United States in observance of the Good Friday holiday.

SIFMA is making an early close, rather than a full close, recommendation due to the scheduled release of Bureau of Labor Statistics’ March 2012 employment data the morning of April 6.

SIFMA also recommends that Friday, April 6, not be treated as a good settlement day for secondary market transactions in U.S. government securities, federal agency debt and mortgage-backed securities, corporate bonds, and municipal bonds.  As well, SIFMA recommends for U.S. government and federal agency debt a T+2 settlement cycle for trades entered on Friday, April 6.  SIFMA is making no settlement recommendations for money market transactions.

SIFMA also notes the following regarding April 6:

• The CME Group’s trading floor for Foreign Exchange and Interest Rates will close at 10:00am CDT (See: CME Group’s Chicago Floor Holiday Schedule).  CME Group’s CME Globex® for CME Equity Products will close at 8:15am CDT, and CME Interest Rates and Foreign Exchange will close at 10:15 CDT (See: CME Globex Holiday Schedule).
• The Depository Trust Company will be open for money market instrument settlement processing (See: DTC Good Friday 2012 Holiday Schedule press release).  However, there will be no Continuous Net Settlement (CNS) processing on April 6.
• The Fixed Income Clearing Corporation will be closed. (See: FICC Good Friday Notice)
• The National Securities Clearing Corporation will be closed. (See: NSCC Good Friday Notice)
• The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board will be closed.
• For the purposes of TRACE reporting, FINRA will be closed. (See: FINRA 2012 TRACE Holiday Calendar)
• The Federal Reserve Bank of New York will be open. (See: Holidays Observed by the Federal Reserve, 2011-2014)

These recommendations apply to trading of U.S. dollar-denominated government 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’s recommended early and full market closes are recommendations only; each member firm should decide for itself whether its fixed-income departments remain open for trading.  All SIFMA recommendations are subject to change due to market conditions.

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The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) brings together the shared interests of hundreds of securities firms, banks and asset managers.  SIFMA's mission is to develop policies and practices which strengthen financial markets and which encourage capital availability, job creation and economic growth while building trust and confidence in the financial industry.  SIFMA, with offices in New York and Washington, D.C., is the U.S. regional member of the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA).  For more information, visit www.sifma.org.