Information for participants

Further information about our facilities for participants

Schedule of operations

The table below outlines when our market operations will normally take place.

We reserve the right to change our schedule of operations if required. This could be, for example, in light of bank holidays, developments in market conditions or for operational reasons.

Operation

Day 

Time

APF Gilt Sales - Auctions Usually Mondays and/or Thursdays, with each maturity sector once per fortnight
2.15pm to 2.45pm
Short Term Repo Thursday 10am (12.30pm on scheduled MPC days)

Indexed Long-Term Repos

Tuesday (usually once per month, currently once per week)

10am to 10.30am

Operational Standing Facilities

Monday to Friday (on demand)

Until 6.10pm (6.20pm on the last day of the maintenance period)

Discount Window Facility 

Monday to Friday (on demand)

Participants are advised to contact us by noon if they wish to make a drawing on the same day

7 Day US Dollar Repo

Usually weekly on Wednesdays

8.15am to 8.45am

Alternative Liquidity Facility (ALF)  Thursday (once per week) Until 1pm

Schedule of Indexed Long-Term Repo operations

Operation date Settlement date Maturity date
31 October 2023 2 November 2023 4 April 2024
7 November 2023 9 November 2023 9 May 2024
14 November 2023 16 November 2023 9 May 2024
21 November 2023 23 November 2023 9 May 2024
28 November 2023 30 November 2023 9 May 2024
5 December 2023 7 December 2023 6 June 2024
12 December 2023 14 December 2023 6 June 2024
19 December 2023 21 December 2023 6 June 2024

Schedule of Short-Term Repo operations

Unless otherwise specified, Short-Term Repo (STR) operations take place each Thursday with a 7-day term and will settle on a T+0 basis. For confirmed dates, please see Full calendar of open market operations for 2023.

Schedule of US dollar repo operations

We keep the frequency and maturity of our US dollar operations under review in light of market conditions. The following table contains a schedule of the latest operations:  

Operation date

Term

Settlement date

Maturity date

31 October 2023 7 days
2 November 2023 9 November 2023
8 November 2023 7 days 9 November 2023 16 November 2023
15 November 2023 8 days 16 November 2023 24 November 2023
22 November 2023 6 days 24 November 2023 30 November 2023
29 November 2023 7 days 30 November 2023 7 December 2023
6 December 2023 7 days  7 December 2023 14 December 2023
13 December 2023 7 days 14 December 2023 21 December 2023
20 December 2023 14 days 21 December 2023 4 January 2024
3 January 2024 7 days 4 January 2024 11 January 2024
10 January 2024 7 days 11 January 2024 18 January 2024
17 January 2024 7 days 18 January 2024  25 January 2024
24 January 2024 7 days 25 January 2024 1 February 2024
31 January 2024 7 days 1 February 2024 8 February 2024

Schedule of APF gilt sale operations

APF gilt sales auction calendar – October to December 2023

The following table contains the current quarterly schedule of APF gilt sale operations.

Auction date

Maturity sector

Monday 2 October

Short

Monday 9 October

Long

Monday 16 October

Medium

Thursday 19 October

Short

Monday 23 October

Long

Monday 30 October

Medium

Monday 6 November

Long

Monday 13 November

Short

Monday 20 November

Medium

Monday 27 November Short
Monday 4 December Long
Monday 11 December Medium

For further information, please see Asset Purchase Facility: Gilt Sales – Market Notice 1 September 2022 and Asset Purchase Facility: Gilt Sales – Market Notice 21 September 2023.

APF gilt sale operations are confirmed each Thursday for the week ahead. For the latest announcement, please see APF gilt sale operations schedule

 

Latest market notices

Indexed Long-Term Repo

Short Term Repo

Contingent Term Repo Facility

APF Gilt Operations

APF Corporate Bond Purchase Scheme Operations

Liquidity Facility in Euros (LiFE) Operations

US Dollar Operations

Operational Standing Facilities

Our Operational Standing Facilities (OSFs) allow firms to deposit reserves with or borrow reserves directly from us. Currently we apply the following rates to these two facilities:

  • borrowing through OSF lending: 5.50%
  • placing reserves with us through OSF deposits: 5.00%

In the event of an operational disruption to the CREST settlement system, we may use OSFs in a process known as Non-Standard CREST Closure (NSCC).

NSCC quick reference guide

Further information on Asset Purchase Facility (APF) operations 

Corporate bonds

The Bank has now concluded its corporate bond sales programme. As shown in the table below, these sales were conducted primarily via auction and supplemented by small quantities of sales via other methods, in line with our published approach.

A small number of very short maturity bonds will continue to be held in the portfolio, maturing fully by 5 April 2024.

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 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 our Quarterly Bulletin article published in May 2022 (Box D), and 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.

How are market operations carried out?

Our electronic tendering system, Btender, is used to carry out auction operations. All counterparties that are eligible to participate and are signed up to our auction operations must use Btender, and take reasonable steps to ensure they are able to access this system across all locations they work from. You will also require access to SWIFTnet.

Our expectation is for firms to use Btender in all circumstances to minimise operational risk. Where this is not possible, firms may submit proxy bids. Firms wishing to submit proxy bids should first seek approval by e-mailing: Markets-SMDDealers@bankofengland.co.uk with the names, e-mail addresses and direct work extension telephone numbers of all dealers authorised to submit bids on their behalf. 

On each auction day, the authorised dealer should first call +44 (0) 20 3461 5000 to confirm the bid. The authorised dealer should then e-mail: proxybids@bankofengland.co.uk, including the name of the auction in the subject header field when submitting their proxy bid. Before accepting any bids, we reserve the right to take further steps to confirm the eligibility of firms, and verify the identity of submitting dealers. We accept no liability for any delays arising from such checks.  

To contact the Sterling desk, call +44 (0) 20 3461 5000 or email Markets-SMDDealers@bankofengland.co.uk.

SMF Authorised Signatory Evidence Form

As a participant in the Sterling Monetary Framework, you are required to provide an authorised signatory evidence form and documentary evidence to support the authorised signatories. This form must be completed on behalf of your organisation and responsibility is with you, the participant, to keep this up to date, and inform the Bank of any updates or amendments in a timely and efficient manner.

To update your authorised signatory evidence form, complete our pro forma:

Evidence of authority and specimen signatures are required for the individual(s) signing off the form. We encourage you to read our guidance note on supporting evidence:

Please submit the form, and supporting evidence to Applications@bankofengland.co.uk.

Contact details

This page was last updated 27 October 2023

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