The government is ramping up its efforts to automate the buying and selling of stocks and bonds as part of its ongoing effort to combat what it calls “over-supply.”
A $7 billion pilot program launched earlier this month was focused on automated trading on a broad range of stocks, including the major indexes.
The Treasury Department said Thursday it has also launched a $3 billion fund that would allow individuals to buy and sell stocks and bond contracts electronically.
As part of the plan, the Treasury is expected to issue more than $1 billion in bonds, according to a Treasury official.
A Treasury official said the fund would be funded through a $10 billion asset-backed security, or ABS, which could be used to buy or sell bonds and other securities.
Trading computers are used by many financial institutions to buy, sell and trade stocks and other financial instruments.
In September, Treasury announced it had purchased a $2.5 billion computer system for the Federal Reserve to automate trading in futures contracts and other trading.
Last month, the department unveiled a $5 billion program to expand the use of automated trading technology for securities trading, including derivatives.
While the use is still nascent, the program is expected by the end of this year to be able to automate as many as 1 million trading jobs.
Treasury said it plans to use the technology to create new markets and create jobs.