Bessent's Camp David Notepad Lists $5-10B Yen Buy
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- Scott Bessent had a Camp David notepad photographed over his shoulder by Reuters at 11:33am on Friday showing the words 'To Do' followed by 'Buy Japanese Yen (JPY) $5-10 bil,' with the notepad remaining visible 30 minutes later during televised remarks.
- The Financial Times reported the Federal Reserve Bank of New York sold euros to buy yen on behalf of the US Treasury the same day, though a Treasury spokesperson declined to confirm whether it had intervened.
- The yen had fallen to its weakest level against the dollar since 1986 the prior week, with Bloomberg attributing the decline partly to rising oil prices.
- Earlier on Friday, the Treasury notified banks it could intervene that day, and Japanese authorities separately stepped in to prop up the yen during early trading hours.
- The dollar dropped from roughly 158.9 to 157.6 yen between 4:14pm and 5pm ET — about a 0.8% yen strengthening — in what LSEG data captured as a second sizeable intraday move.
- The US Treasury had not intervened to support the yen since 2011, when it joined other G7 nations in coordinated action after Japan's earthquake and tsunami.
Why it matters: Friday's note confirms the first US Treasury yen intervention since the 2011 G7 earthquake response, with the New York Fed executing the euro-for-yen swap. The 0.8% intraday dollar drop and $5-10 billion scope show Washington treated the yen's 1986-era weakness as urgent enough to break a 15-year precedent and coordinate with Tokyo authorities already active in the market.
