Axios Live: U.S. markets respond to new forces shaping investments and currencies

NEW YORK – CEOs are cautiously optimistic about doing deals despite the current economic challenges, NYSE Group president Lynn Martin said at a Sept. 22 Axios event.

Why it matters: Wall Street is at an inflection point with the rise of digital currencies, changes in the U.S. workforce, the imposition of tariffs, and a potential loss in transparency, multiple speakers said.

Axios' Mike Allen, Courtenay Brown and Madison Mills spoke with Martin, Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire, and Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow Rebecca Patterson at the event. The event was sponsored by KPMG.

Driving the news: President Trump recently pushed the SEC to cut the number of annual corporate earnings reports from four times a year to two, which Martin attributed to a desire to get more companies to go public.

• "There isn't a silver bullet" when it comes to the quest to get more companies to go public, Martin said, although "this quarter has been tremendous in terms of IPOs."
• When considering Trump's suggested changes, Martin said, "I think it's going to be a combination of a variety of factors focused on being less prescriptive about what gets reported, [and] when it gets reported. However, you still need to balance the transparency requirements that investors are going to have on public companies."
• "We think transparency is the hallmark of what makes our capital markets the greatest markets in the world."

Zoom out: Patterson said she is concerned about America's global standing.

• "I think there are real risks to our position in the world," Patterson said, particularly from the impact of the administration's immigration policy.
• "If we have an exodus of immigrants, we're going to have less labor. They make up 20% of the labor force today," she said.

What we're watching: As countries around the world adopt digital currencies, Allaire thinks dollar stablecoins could help strengthen America's position. Bipartisan support for legislation regulating digital assets has been gaining traction in Congress.

• "We've been talking to leaders in the U.S. government and in Congress for about five years about this, and our belief is that dollar stablecoins can enshrine the dollar as the primary currency of the internet," Allaire said.

• "I actually think right now the United States is — potentially as a result of this administration and the bipartisan efforts in Congress — going to be the best place in the world to build and compete in this."

Content from the sponsored segment:

In a View From the Top conversation, KPMG LLP deputy chair and U.S. managing principal Atif Zaim said that U.S. exceptionalism in the markets is "alive and well."

• "We're home to Silicon Valley [and] we have the deepest and most liquid capital markets," Zaim said.
• "We have a … reasonably stable regulatory system, we're a democracy, the regulatory burden isn't as high as in many other places around the world. So for all of those reasons, it remains very attractive."