*EPF503 08/15/2003
Text: Banking System Not Disrupted by Blackout, Treasury Says
(Calls financial system "extremely resilient") (160)

The U.S. Treasury Department said it has not received any reports of major disruptions in the U.S. banking system as a result of an interruption of electrical power in the northeastern part of the United States starting August 14.

The U.S. financial system is "extremely resilient," the department said in an August 15 statement.

Following is the text of Treasury's statement:

(begin text)

The U.S. financial system is extremely resilient.

Power went down after the markets were closed. Our information is that market participants and exchanges were able to shut down in an orderly manner.

We are actively monitoring the situation and are in close touch with the financial regulators, the bond markets, the New York fed and others.

The bond markets are not disrupted.

We have not received any reports of major disruptions to the nation's banking system.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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