By Katanga Johnson and Lawrence Delevingne
(Reuters) – A large proportion of staff at the U.S. securities regulator were working from home on Tuesday after an employee at its Washington D.C. headquarters was treated for coronavirus symptoms, the Securities and Exchange Commission said (SEC).
The markets regulator said it would still conduct a previously scheduled open meeting of its commissioners on Wednesday, but warned public attendees to watch via webcast if they have any symptoms of the flu-like illness.
The development is the latest sign that the fast-spreading virus is starting to disrupt some regulatory functions, after several agencies, including banking regulators, last week started to implement their pandemic contingency plans.
It also comes as the SEC has been deluged with regulatory enquiries from companies seeking guidance on how to handle coronavirus-related financial disclosures, and amid extreme volatility in the U.S. stocks markets that the agency oversees.
Late on Monday afternoon, the SEC was informed that the employee, who has not been identified, was treated for respiratory symptoms and had been referred for coronavirus testing, a spokesperson for the SEC said on Monday night.
The agency then issued a memo encouraging staff to work remotely, and most people at the DC headquarters, where a large proportion of its 4,350 staff work, were following the advice on Tuesday, according to one SEC employee.
“Even with increased telework, the SEC remains able and committed to fully executing its mission on behalf of investors, including monitoring market function and working closely with other regulators and market participants,” the spokesperson said.
In addition to the SEC, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the top banking regulators have allowed more home-working, canceled or limited travel, called off conferences, and restricted some external meetings, Reuters reported on Friday.
The SEC staff member said teleworking was not a “major process disruption” but that his team had scaled back onsite compliance visits and examinations, and were conducting them instead by phone.
Several agencies were also delaying examinations or conducting them by phone, according to other regulatory sources.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, which oversees thousands of brokers, said on Monday it expected to delay its 2020 on-site examinations as many banks had sent traders home or to other backup locations, indicating the exams may even be pushed to next year.
(Reporting by Katanga Johnson in Washington DC, Lawrence Delevingne in New York and Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; editing by Michelle Price and Bernadette Baum)
