Staff Reports
The Global Dash for Cash: Why Sovereign Bond Market Functioning Varied across Jurisdictions in March 2020
Number 1010
March 2022

JEL classification: G01, G12, E44, H63

Authors: Jordan Barone, Adam Copeland, Cullen Kavoussi, Frank M. Keane, and Seth Searls

As the economic disruptions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic increased in March 2020, there was a global dash-for-cash by investors. This selling pressure occurred across advanced sovereign bond markets and caused a deterioration in market functioning, leading to central bank interventions. We show that these market disruptions occurred disproportionately in the U.S. Treasury market and were due to investors’ selling pressures being far more pronounced and broad-based. Furthermore, we assess differences in key drivers of the market disruptions across sovereign bond markets, based on an analysis of the data as well as structured outreach to a range of market participants.

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Author Disclosure Statement(s)
Jordan Barone declares that he has no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this FRBNY Staff Report. Prior to circulation, this paper was reviewed in accordance with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York review policy, available at https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/index.html.

Alain Chaboud declares that he has no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this FRBNY Staff Report. Prior to circulation, this paper was reviewed in accordance with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York review policy, available at https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/index.html.

Adam Copeland declares that he has no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this paper. Prior to circulation, this paper was reviewed in accordance with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York review policy, available at https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/index.html.

Cullen K. Kavoussi declares that he has no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this FRBNY Staff Report. Prior to circulation, this paper was reviewed in accordance with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York review policy, available at https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/index.html.

Frank Keane declares that he has no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this FRBNY Staff Report. Prior to circulation, this paper was reviewed in accordance with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York review policy, available at https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/index.html.

Seth Searls declares that he has no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this FRBNY Staff Report. Prior to circulation, this paper was reviewed in accordance with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York review policy, available at https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/index.html.
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