WASHINGTON - The House Ways and Means Committee voted yesterday to recommend that the pending government securities bill be amended to give federal regulators greater authority over the U.S. Treasuries market.
The committee's provision clarifies that a violation of Treasury securities auction rules is also a violation of federal securities law. The proposal also calls on the Treasury to study possible changes to the current auction process and report back to Congress by Jan. 1, 1993.
In a letter to the committee before the vote, Micah S. Green, executive vice president of the Public Securities Association, said his group supports the proposal because it would "act as a clear deterrent to fraudulent or manipulative conduct in this important market."
The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the government securities bill on June 2. It would strengthen market surveillance by giving the Treasury authority to write rules requiring all firms with large positions in the cash, when-issued, and refinancing markets to report their positions to regulators.
In taking its action, the Ways and Means Committee did not formally attach its proposal to the bill because the House has not yet given the panel authority to do so. An aide to the Energy and Commerce Committee said the House parliamentarian would decide soon whether to send the bill to other committees before it goes to the House floor.
