Securities Lending and Repo Committee

The Securities Lending and Repo Committee (SLRC) was formed in 1990, originally under the name of the Stock Borrowing and Lending Committee (SBLC) (which was chaired by the Bank of England). Its name was changed in 1996 to reflect the Committee's wider remit following the development of the gilt repo market. In 2004, the name was changed again to Securities Lending and Repo Committee.

In its present capacity, it is a UK-based committee of international repo and securities lending practitioners and representatives of trade organisations, together with bodies such as Euroclear UK and Ireland, the UK Debt Management Office, the London Stock Exchange, and the Financial Services Authority. The committee provides a forum in which structural (including legal) developments in the relevant markets can be discussed by practitioners and the authorities. It continues to be chaired and administered by the Bank of England. The terms of reference for this committee (81k) are available on this site.

The committee originally met monthly but moved in 2001 to regular quarterly meetings, with additional meetings held when necessary. Dates of future meetings , updated on 8 June 2009 (10k) are available on this site. The minutes of SLRC meetings are published approximately one month after the meeting. Minutes from December 2000 onwards are available on this site.

The SLRC has been responsible for producing a number of codes of guidance which are also available on this site:

Securities Borrowing and Lending Code of Guidance (104k). This is a summary of the basic procedures which UK-based participants in securities borrowing/lending of both UK domestic and overseas securities observe as a matter of good practice. It is kept under review. The code was originally produced in April 1994, and then updated in December 1995 (effective from 2 January 1996), December 2000 (effective from 1 January 2001), December 2004 (effective from 1 January 2005) and July 2009 (effective immediately).
- The UK Annex (123k), produced in May 2004 and updated in December 2004, assists market participants in applying the Code to securities traded and settled in the United Kingdom.
Gilt Repo Code of Guidance (115k). This Code sets out standards of good practice for gilt repo. It is drawn up on the basis of practice in existing repo markets in London observed by practitioners and regulators and is kept under review. The code was originally produced in November 1995 (effective from 2 January 1996) and was last revised in May 2008 (effective immediately).

The SLRC also produces the Gilts Annex to the ISMA/TBMA Global Master Repurchase Agreement (GMRA).

Together with the Association of Corporate Treasurers, British Bankers Association, London Investment Banking Association, International Securities Lending Association and London Stock Exchange, the SLRC has sponsored an Introduction to Securities Lending (full report 13.5mb),and news release (69k) published in March 2004.

Print quality high resolution version of the Introduction to Securities Lending report (24.7mb).

The report has also been divided into smaller sections
to allow for a quicker download:

Executive Summary (1.97mb)
Chapter 1
What is Securities Lending? (1.63mb)
Chapter 2
Lenders and Intermediaries (1.14mb)
Chapter 3
The Borrowing Motivation (1.18mb)
Chapter 4
Market Mechanics (1.41mb)
Chapter 5
Risks, Regulation and Market Oversight 1.48mb)
Chapter 6
Frequently Asked Questions (1.51mb)

In June 2005 the SLRC endorsed the publication of 'Securities Lending and Corporate Governance' (1.69mb), a paper exploring how securities lending and good corporate governance can be arranged to minimise conflict to the overall benefit of the institutions involved. The paper was written by Mark Faulkner of Spitalfields Advisors, and was also endorsed by the Association of Corporate Treasurers, the British Bankers' Association, the London Stock Exchange and the National Association of Pension Funds.

Minutes of the meetings of the SLRC: