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Yellen cautions against damaging monetary threat watchdog

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday warned it was essential that a panel charged with monitoring financial dangers be able to continue its work as concerns grow Presidentelect Donald Trump's. administration will again compromise the body.

Speaking at Friday's Financial Stability Oversight Council. ( FSOC) meeting, the last of President Joe Biden's. administration, Yellen said that under Trump's very first term the. panel's personnel shrank to single digits and the facilities. supporting interagency coordination was substantially scaled. back.

This implied we were less equipped to determine and react to. threats to the monetary system, she said, adding the Democratic. Biden administration reinvested in the panel, which was created. following the 2007-2009 crisis to keep an eye on systemic dangers.

This enhanced Council has delivered, helping make our. monetary system more resilient and our economy stronger. It is. crucial that it continue to do so for the advantage of the. American individuals, she said in prepared remarks.

Trump has not set out a vision for the monetary. regulators, but he has vowed to slash challenging guidelines.

Yellen's remarks came as the FSOC cautioned again in its annual. report about potential threats postured by industrial property,. private credit, and cryptocurrencies, and called on regulators. and companies to be watchful in keeping track of vulnerabilities.

While the 2024 report echoes risks flagged in previous reports,. it warns they have evolved in consequential methods.

The group stated there are indications of increasing commercial real. estate threat, especially in the workplace sector in large city. locations. Increases in office jobs, sluggish rent growth, and higher. borrowing expenses were pressuring borrowers, causing higher. delinquencies and more arrangement expenditures by banks.

On cryptocurrencies, the group cautioned that stablecoins could. posture a threat to monetary stability, and restated require. legislation developing an extensive regulatory framework for. the digital currency item. The group stated that many other. crypto firms and issuers either break existing monetary guidelines. or run outside their limits, producing heightened threats. for substantial fraud and adjustment. The group called for. legislation offering federal regulators specific authority to. police area crypto markets, comparable to its 2023 suggestion.

The group likewise warned that while there has yet to be a major. cybersecurity incident at a large banks, the. problem is top of mind for regulators and industry with. cyberattacks having almost doubled because the COVID-19 pandemic.

(source: Reuters)