Financial industry trade associations are calling for financial markets to remain open despite the effects of the Covid-19 outbreak.
The U.S. Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) was joined Friday by several other trade groups, including the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) and Investment Company Institute (ICI), in a joint statement on the importance of keeping U.S. financial markets operating.
“The U.S. financial markets are critical infrastructure to our nation, and they continue to function as designed despite the volatility caused by the coronavirus,” the statement said.
“Keeping all U.S. financial markets open is essential to the well-being of the general economy and vital to maintaining and bolstering investor confidence, particularly once the economy recovers from effects of this pandemic,” it added.
The statement follows talk earlier in the week about possibly reducing trading hours amid extreme market volatility.
Several U.S. exchanges have closed their trading floors and switched to all-electronic trading, as firms have moved to remote work arrangements due to public health requests for “social distancing” to help contain the outbreak.