Issuer and security eligibility for corporate bond sales
We have published a list of the individual sterling corporate bonds held in the Asset Purchase Facility, as at 5 May 2022. We are open to expressions of interest for debt buy-backs of any bond listed, while those that will be available for sale via auctions are marked separately:
We have also published a breakdown of the maturity profile of the stock of corporate bonds held in the Asset Purchase Facility. See the results and usage page.
Eligible bond buyback requests
Issuers interested in undertaking debt buybacks of their own issuance, should fill in and submit to us an indication of the bonds using the following form:
You should send your expression of interest, either directly or via an intermediary bank, to: CBPSissuerbuybacks@bankofengland.co.uk.
Issuers that wish to proceed to make a formal buyback offer should submit an Eligible bond buyback request form via an intermediary bank to CBPSissuerbuybacks@bankofengland.co.uk no later than five working days before the planned execution date for the buyback.
Approach to market engagement on APF gilts
In the minutes of its meeting ending on 3 August 2022, the MPC said that it was provisionally minded to commence gilt sales shortly after its September policy meeting, subject to economic and market conditions being judged appropriate and subject to a confirmatory vote at that meeting. The Committee asked the Bank to be in a position to begin a sales programme before the end of September.
Following publication of the Bank’s accompanying Provisional Market Notice on APF gilt sales the Bank invited GEMMs, as the Bank’s counterparties in these operations, to a virtual meeting on 5 August 2022 to provide an opportunity for questions on the operational implications and to gather any initial feedback. We have published minutes of this call covering a number of questions raised in relation to the Bank’s operational approach.
It remains important that we are able to take into account feedback from the widest range of stakeholders in this process. We regularly engage with a wide range of market participants across different market sectors through our market intelligence function and will continue to accept input via email to APFOpsFeedback@bankofengland.co.uk. Information received will be treated in line with the Bank's published Market Intelligence Charter.
Requirements for eligible counterparties
Counterparties in the Corporate Bond Purchase Scheme sales programme must submit to us quotes on eligible securities that are sent in the normal course of their business (dealer runs) as well as indications of bonds which they would like to buy or take a position in (dealer axes). Further details are provided in the APF Operating Procedures. We have a template for providing this information:
You should send your submission to APF_CorporateBond_DealersInfo@bankofengland.co.uk, preferably by close of business on a daily basis, but at least by close of business on the first working day of the week.
Cash transfers between the APF and Her Majesty’s Treasury (HMT)
The APF is operated via a subsidiary of the Bank of England known as the Bank of England Asset Purchase Facility Fund (BEAPFF) that is indemnified by HMT. BEAPFF receives interest on the gilts and corporate bonds it holds, which were purchased using a loan from the Bank. Interest income is used to pay administrative costs, and interest on the loan. The net balance is transferred between BEAPFF and HMT every quarter. More detail about this process can be found in the following document:
Lending of gilts bought in APF Gilt Purchase Operations
We have agreed that we will make a small proportion of the gilts purchased available to the UK Debt Management Office (DMO) for on-lending to the market through the DMO’s normal repo market activity. We issued a joint statement on this in 2009.
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