White Papers
US Negative Interest Rates Policy Checklist
Issue
COVID-19→
Excerpt
Introduction
The potential impact of a negative interest rate (NIR) policy in the U.S. continues to be discussed by market participants. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome H. Powell has previously stated that the U.S. does not see negative interest rates as an appropriate policy response to economic disruption caused by the pandemic. However, the uncertainty of U.S. economic recovery and the current 0% to 0.25% monetary policy target range for the federal funds rate continues to lead market participants to consider the future possibility of a NIR policy in the U.S.
SIFMA’s Operations & Technology Committee has formed a U.S. Negative Interest Rates Readiness Working Group (Working Group) that has developed a U.S. NIR readiness checklist. The checklist was developed through discussions between Working Group members. The objective of the checklist is to assist SIFMA member firms with planning for the potential of a negative interest rate policy in the U.S., accelerate readiness, and mitigate the risk of disruption to business activities and investors.