As the federal government of the United States and its employees plan for a possible government shutdown if Congress denies appropriation funding, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is open for business.
“We’re here,” said a receptionist at the SEC. Agency spokeswoman Christine D’Amico says the SEC is operational and its instructions in the event of a full-blown government shutdown are listed on the agency’s web site,sec.gov.
According to the website, the SEC “will be able to continue only certain types of functions that qualify as exceptions to the Antideficiency Act restrictions” but “if there is a lapse in appropriations, the SEC must initiate the orderly shutdown of agency activities not considered essential to these functions.”
The CFTC, on the other hand, has submitted a plan to the White House where more than 90 percent of its staff could eventually be furloughed. “If lawmakers cant agree on a deal to avert a shutdown, the CFTC will immediately drop from 680 people to just 28, with employees working strictly on market oversight and ongoing litigation, according to the agencys shutdown plan,” writes The Wall Street Journal.
Telephone calls and messages to the CFTC and its press office have not been returned.
The reason for the potential furloughs and slowdowns at the SEC and the CFTC are due to the details of their funding. Congress pays their staffs via the appropriations process while other regulatory and oversight bodies as The Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency are all funded independently.
A shutdown of the federal government could see800,000 federal workers placed on furlough and more than a million other employees working without pay.
As of the morning of Tuesday, October 1, the markets have been smooth with little impact from the shutdown.
As the head of cash trading for a major investment firm toldTraders Magazineyesterday, a shutdown will have little impact on the U.S. capital markets. “This is more an embarrassment for the government than it is for us,” he said.
