Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that “a new issue this year pertains to reference interest rates, which recent investigations have demonstrated were manipulated, particularly in the case of Libor.”

“The international regulatory community is taking actions to address the governance and the integrity of Libor and to consider transitions toward alternative benchmarks,” Bernanke said during a meeting of the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

He said the U.S. needs to cooperate in those efforts.

“Wholesale funding markets remain vulnerable to runs that could in turn trigger destabilizing fire sales,” Bernanke said.

“To address such concerns the council recommends that the SEC consider regulatory action to improve the loss-absorption capacity of money market funds and mitigate run risk associated with those funds.”