Treasury Secretary’s Notes Reveal Plan to Support Yen

Washington and Tokyo Coordinate Rare Currency Market Action

The United States has stepped in to support the Japanese yen, with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at the centre of the intervention.

A photograph taken during a cabinet meeting at Camp David on Friday captured a notepad in front of Bessent bearing the heading “To Do” and the handwritten instruction: “Buy Japanese Yen.”

The image surfaced just hours after reports that the U.S. Department of the Treasury had alerted major banks to the possibility of market intervention.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York subsequently acted on behalf of the Treasury, selling euros to purchase yen. According to reports, this marks the first coordinated U.S.-Japan intervention involving outright purchases of the Japanese currency in nearly three decades.

Japanese authorities had already entered the market earlier, buying yen and selling U.S. dollars as the currency traded near its weakest level against the dollar since the mid-1980s.

The coordinated action underscores growing concern in both Washington and Tokyo over sharp currency movements and their potential impact on global financial markets.