A vote on new regulations, which would introduce a requirement for hedge funds and proprietary trading firms to register as dealers, has been postponed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to a report by Bloomberg.

The new regulations were first proposed in March 2022, the vote for which has now been scheduled for 6 February rather than 31 January.

The SEC says the new rule is required because high-frequency trading firms make up a significant portion of daily transactions in the US Treasuries market and should therefore be regulated as dealers.

Industry groups however have expressed concerns that, if adopted, the new requirement will force them to either rethink their trading strategies or exit the cash Treasuries market completely.