Money Market News
The Investment Company Institute's latest weekly "Money Market Fund Assets" report shows money fund assets rising $13.4 billion to $7.785 trillion, after they increased $16.9 billion the previous week and jumped by $127.0 billion three weeks ago. MMFs fell by a massive $175.8 billion six weeks ago, their largest weekly drop ever. Assets hit a record high $7.856 trillion ten weeks ago. MMF assets are up by $836 billion, or 12.0%, over the past 52 weeks (through 5/27/26), with Institutional MMFs up $614 billion, or 15.0% and Retail MMFs up $222 billion, or 7.7%. Year-to-date in 2026, MMF assets are up by $51 billion, or 0.7%, with Institutional MMFs up $36 billion, or 0.8% and Retail MMFs up $15 billion, or 0.5%.
Reuters writes "UK to tighten money market fund rules by end of year." The article explains, "Britain will impose tougher rules later this year on money market funds, which have been a focus of regulators since market turmoil in March 2020, when they were hit by heavy redemptions during a COVID-19-induced 'dash for cash'. Legislation will establish a new regulatory framework with the expectation that the 300 billion pound ($405 billion) sterling money market fund sector will hold more liquid assets, the government said in a statement [earlier this month]." (See our May 18 News, "EC Report Proposes Higher Weekly Liquidity Levels for European MMFs;" our May 15 News, "European Money Fund Assets Inch Down to $1.67 Tril; MFI Intl Holdings," which says, 'The FCA, which regulates markets in the U.K., published a policy paper titled, 'Reforms to Money Market Fund Regulations;'' and our May 26 News, "European Money Fund Symposium Heads to Paris, Sept. 24-25; CD Events.")
The Wall Street Journal published a story titled "Stablecoins Are Private Money. That's Why They're a Risk to the Economy," which tells us, "To proponents, stablecoins are crypto's killer app. They will make payments faster and more efficient, especially across borders, than the legacy banking system makes possible. With that promise, though, comes the risk that this could lead to a financial crisis, much like some past experiments with private money. Both the Genius Act, signed into law last year, and the Clarity Act now making its way through the Senate, aim to make stablecoins safer and more mainstream. But no legislation can fully remove risk that is intrinsic to the design of stablecoins. Stablecoin issuers and affiliated platforms are private enterprises driven to increase usage and profit via the assets they hold to back their coins, the 'rewards' they pay to users, and the sorts of activity they tolerate."
With just 4 months to go, we're ramping up preparations for the 12th Annual Crane's European Money Fund Symposium, which will take place Sept. 24-25 at the Pullman Hotel in Paris, France. The full agenda is now available and registrations are now being taken for our European money market mutual fund event. We provide more details on the show below. Our 2025 European Symposium event in Dublin attracted almost 200 money fund professionals, sponsors and speakers. Given the continued growth in money fund assets, trends like tokenization and expectations for another round of regulatory changes in Europe, we expect our show in Paris to once again be the largest gathering of money market professionals outside the U.S. (Note: We're still taking registrations for our big U.S. Money Fund Symposium show, which is next month, June 24-26, in Jersey City. We look forward to seeing you in NJ!)
BNY Dreyfus has filed to launch a tokenized money market fund, according to a recent SEC filing for the pending BNY Dreyfus On-Chain Liquidity Fund. The filing, under the Dreyfus Government Cash Management Funds umbrella, says, "The fund seeks as high a level of current income as is consistent with the preservation of capital and the maintenance of liquidity.... The fund pursues its investment objective by investing in (i) U.S. Treasury bills, notes, or bonds (collectively, U.S. Treasury securities), (ii) overnight repurchase agreements collateralized solely by U.S. Treasury securities and/or cash, and (iii) cash. The fund is a money market fund subject to the maturity, quality, liquidity and diversification requirements of Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and seeks to maintain a stable share price of $1.00. The U.S. Treasury securities in which the fund invests have a remaining maturity of 93 days or less or are issued with a maturity of 93 days or less."
The Central Bank of Ireland published, "DLT & Tokenisation in Financial Services" recently, which states, "Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) has the potential to have profound implications for the financial system. The integration of DLT into mainstream finance presents clear potential benefits for providers and users of financial services, but also challenges that need to be managed. Understanding how tokenisation interacts with existing financial infrastructures, legal frameworks, forms of money and settlement, and market practices is therefore critical to ensuring that innovation supports and effects positive change, while maintaining monetary and financial stability, consumer protection and market integrity. The Central Bank of Ireland is issuing this Discussion Paper (DP) to stimulate informed dialogue on the future role of DLT and tokenisation applications within the Irish and European financial services ecosystem."
A press release titled, "Moody's Ratings assigns Aaa-mf assessment to BlackRock's BUIDL fund," tells us, "Moody's Ratings (Moody's) has assigned an Aaa-mf assessment to BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund Ltd. (BUIDL or the "Fund"), a tokenized liquidity fund that seeks to maintain a net asset value of $1.00 per share. The Fund aims to preserve principal and provide liquidity to investors on demand by investing 100% of its assets in cash, short-term US Treasury instruments and repurchase agreements secured by such obligations. The Fund limits its investments to securities with maturities of 93 days or less."
The SEC published its latest quarterly "Private Funds Statistics" report recently, which summarizes Form PF reporting and includes some data on "Liquidity Funds," or pools which are similar to but not money market funds. The publication shows overall Liquidity fund assets were higher in the latest reported quarter (Q3'25) at $414 billion (up from $389 billion in Q2'25 and up from $369 billion in Q3'24). We also again briefly review the SEC's "Amendments to Form PF Reporting Requirements for Large Liquidity Fund Advisers" which went into effect almost two years ago, below.
The European Commission recently published, a "Report on the Adequacy of the Money Market Funds Regulation from a Prudential and Economic Point of View." The paper explains, "The Money Market Funds Regulation (the MMF Regulation) entered into force in 2018 and set out a comprehensive framework for EU money market funds (MMFs). It recognises their major role in financing the economy, in particular short-term funding to public authorities and corporates, and meeting investors' need. EU MMFs offer a liquid, well-regulated investment tool that contributes to meeting the objectives of the Savings and Investments Union." (See Friday's News, "European Money Fund Assets Inch Down to $1.67 Tril; MFI Intl Holdings," which comments, "The FCA, which regulates markets in the U.K., published a policy paper titled, 'Reforms to Money Market Fund Regulations.'"
Crane Data's latest Money Fund Intelligence International shows that assets in European or "offshore" money market mutual funds decreased slightly over the past 30 days to $1.670 trillion, decreasing from a record high $1.672 trillion the month prior. Yields were mixed, while assets for USD, EUR and GBP MMFs all inched lower over the past month. Like U.S. money fund assets, European MMFs have repeatedly hit record highs in 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026. These U.S.-style money funds, domiciled in Ireland or Luxembourg and denominated in US Dollars, Pound Sterling and Euros, decreased by $10.0 billion over the 30 days through 5/13. The totals are up $85.3 billion (5.4%) year-to-date for 2026. They were up $151.9 billion (10.6%) for 2025, up $235.3 billion (19.7%) for 2024 and up $166.9 billion (16.2%) for the year 2023. (Note that currency moves in the U.S. Dollar cause Euro and Sterling totals to shift when they're translated back into totals in USD. See our latest MFI International for more on the "offshore" money fund marketplace. These funds are only available to qualified, non-U.S. investors and are almost entirely institutional.) (Note too: Mark your calendars for our next European Money Fund Symposium, which will be held Sept. 24-25 in Paris, France.)
The May issue of our Bond Fund Intelligence, which was sent to subscribers Thursday a.m., features the articles, "All About the Munis After April 15: Inflows, ETFs, Steep Curve," which reviews recent commentary on the tax-exempt bond market; and "ICI's 2026 Fact Book Reviews '25 Bond Fund Trends, Flows," which excerpts from the latest Investment Company Institute statistics compilation. BFI also recaps the latest Bond Fund News and includes our Crane BFI Indexes, which show that bond fund returns rebounced in April while yields inched higher. We excerpt from the new issue below. (Contact us if you'd like to see our latest Bond Fund Intelligence and BFI XLS spreadsheet, or our Bond Fund Portfolio Holdings data.)
Crane Data is ramping up preparations for its big show, Money Fund Symposium, which will take place June 24-26, 2026 at The Hyatt Regency Jersey City, in Jersey City, NJ. The full agenda for the largest gathering of money market fund managers and cash investors in the world is now available and registrations are still being taken. Crane's Money Fund Symposium attracts money fund managers, marketers and servicers, cash investors, money market securities dealers, issuers, and regulators. (We had over 680 attendees last year and expect a similarly robust crowd this year.) We review the details on MFS, as well as Crane Data's other 2026 conferences, below.
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