Financial Repression Tracker

Rules that steer savings into government debt or hold returns below inflation, country by country.

Steer · Prudential sovereign bias

Money-market-fund reforms favouring government-debt funds

What it is
MMF rules impose floating NAVs, liquidity fees or gates on prime funds while exempting funds that hold (almost) only government debt.
Why it counts
Cash-like savings migrate from private-paper funds to government MMFs, creating a large captive buyer of Treasury bills.

When it was in force

  • United States: 2016 → now, in force
  • European Union: 2019 → now, in force; the rule may be older than the cited document

2 examples

  1. United States

    2016 → nowIn force

    Floating NAV and fees/gates applied to institutional non-government funds; government MMFs (99.5% government securities) were spared.

    SEC Money Market Fund Reform; Amendments to Form PF, 79 FR 47736 (14 August 2014), amending Rule 2a-7Primary source
    “Government money market fund means a money market fund that invests 99.5 percent or more of its total assets in cash, government securities, and/or repurchase agreements that are collateralized fully.”

    govinfo.gov (opens in a new tab)Checked: quote matched on the page by script

    United States today: index 42.9

  2. European Union

    2019 → nowIn force

    The rule may be older than the cited document

    Only 'public debt CNAV' funds investing 99.5% in government debt may keep a constant NAV without the LVNAV collar limits.

    Regulation (EU) 2017/1131 on money market funds, Article 2(11)Primary source
    “that invests at least 99,5 % of its assets in instruments referred to in Article 17(7), reverse repurchase agreements secured with government debt referred to in Article 17(7) and in cash;”

    eur-lex.europa.eu (opens in a new tab)Checked: quote matched on the page by script

    European Union today: index 44.0

Examples and their dates reviewed .

Further reading