Further information on Covid Corporate Financing Facility operations
For general information on the Covid Corporate Financing Please, please visit this page. Information on how to take part in the facility can be found on the Information for Applicants page.
Issuer and security eligibility for commercial paper purchases
Information on the eligibility criteria for issuers and securities is available in the CCFF Operating Procedures. Dealers or issuers can confirm the eligibility of securities by submitting the Issuer Eligibility form to CCFF-Applications@bankofengland.co.uk.
- CCFF Operating Procedures (pdf)
- Issuer Eligibility Form (primary market) (xls)
- Issuer eligibility form (secondary market) (xls)
Operations
Dealers can offer eligible securities for purchase to the Bank’s Sterling desk from Monday to Friday 10am to 11am. Issuers may use only one dealer each day to offer their commercial paper to the Bank.
Eligibility of a new issuer or commercial paper programme must be confirmed by 16:00, in order to be offered for sale to the Bank on the following business day.
- Counterparties should submit offers to sell eligible CP to the Fund or requests to repay early by buying back existing CP, using the transaction template provided. Completed templates should be emailed to CCFFTransactions@bankofengland.co.uk (or as advised on the Bank’s wire services page).
Pricing
For primary market purchases the Bank will purchase securities at a spread above a reference rate, based on the current sterling overnight index swap (OIS) rate. The respective reference OIS rate will be determined at 09:45 on the day of the operation.
The respective spreads are subject to review, as at 19 May 2020 these are:
Rating | Spread to OIS |
---|---|
A1/P1/F1/R1 |
20 bps |
A2/P2/F2/R2 |
40 bps |
A3/P3/F3/R3 |
60 bps |
For secondary market purchases the Bank will purchase CP at the lower of (a) amortised cost from the issue price and (b) the price as given by the method used for primary market purchases as set out above. The Bank will apply an additional fee for use of the secondary facility, payable separately. This fee is currently set at the equivalent of an additional 5bps on the yield on the transaction and will be kept under review.
For re-sale transactions for the purpose of early repayment, the Bank will offer to sell CP at the higher of either (a) the amortised cost from the price at which the Fund purchased the CP, or (b) the current price as given by the method used for primary market purchases of equivalent maturity from the same firm. From 1 July, the Bank will apply an additional fee to be set at 5 basis points and kept under review, which will be deducted from the yield offered in the re-sale transaction before calculating the final price and cash proceeds.