Podcast: What Just Happened in the Repo Markets?

The financial system relies on short-term funding markets every day to fund operations. A crucial but little-known market that ordinarily hums steadily along, this week we saw a shortage of cash cause a massive spike in repo rates. What happened?

In this podcast, SIFMA president and CEO, Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. discusses the confluence of technical factors that caused the market dislocation – and what policymakers can take away from it. He is joined by Robert Toomey – Managing Director and Associate General Counsel and head of SIFMA’s capital markets practice – and Carter McDowell – Managing Director and Associate General Counsel and head of SIFMA’s prudential and capital practice.

For background on how repo market activity is related to money market operations, listen to our companion podcast, “Where Money Market Funds and the Repo Market Intersect.”