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TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION 1
REPURCHASE AND
REVERSE REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS
- INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
For those not already familiar with the fundamentals of repurchase agreements, the
following illustrations review the two basic types of transactions; repos and reverse
repos.
1. Repurchase Agreement
DAY 1
MONEY
DAY 2 MONEY
+ REPO INTEREST
Salomon Brothers Inc
or Smith Barney Inc INVESTOR
COLLATERAL
The buyer of the securities invests money for a set term at an agreed upon interest
rate; the “repo rate”. Since the investor receives securities as collateral, the investor
is making a secured investment.
While, customers can use repo to invest cash or enhance the returns on their
portfolio, it is the principle mechanism that dealers use to finance long positions and
cover shorts.
In a reverse repurchase agreement ("reverse repo") the dealer buys securities from
the investor with a simultaneous agreement to sell them back at a future date. The
investor borrows money from the dealer at a negotiated rate; the “reverse repo rate”.
DAY 1
COLLATERAL
DAY 2
COLLATERAL
Salomon Brothers Inc
or Smith Barney Inc MONEY
INVESTOR
+ REVERSE REPO INTEREST
The reverse repo rate will vary depending upon several factors. They include the
type, quality, size and amount of securities purchased as well as the maturity of the
transaction and credit quality of the counterparty.
Whether using this transaction for an individual security or an entire portfolio, reverse
repo provides investors with the ability to generate short term liquidity for a broad
range of collateral types.
SECTION 2
- COLLATERAL ALTERNATIVES
- DELIVERY ALTERNATIVES
Virtually all aspects of a repo transaction are negotiated. This enables investors to
tailor each transaction to meet their own specific needs. Investors can choose any
combination of the following.
TERM - The market ranges from overnight out to several years, with the
largest concentration of transactions maturing in three months or less.
Trades can settle for cash (same day) or any future date, and mature on any
date specified by the investor. The term will effect the rate paid. Based on
market sentiment.
For further information regarding the types of repo collateral, please see the
section entitled “Collateral Alternatives”.
I. Delivery,
II. Third Party,
III. Letter
The delivery mechanism selected also effects the repo rate. Delivery repo
commands a lower rate because of the operational expenses incurred while
letter repo commands a higher rate due to the minimal operational expenses
and increased flexibility provided to dealers in assigning collateral. Each
method is discussed further in the section entitled “Delivery Alternatives”.
RATE - A repo is normally quoted at a fixed rate, for a fixed term, on a CD-
equivalent basis (360 day year). However, a repo can also be quoted on a
discount or floating-rate basis.
COLLATERAL ALTERNATIVES
The table below provides a general description of the various collateral alternatives
available.
DELIVERY ALTERNATIVES1
The delivery method selected may influence the repo rate paid on the investor’s
cash. Letter and Third Party Repo will have a rate advantage over Delivery Repo
due to the decreased operational expenses and the increased efficiency of assigning
the repo collateral in a third party account.
Cash and Collateral Move
DELIVERY - A repo in which the
securities are delivered to the investor's Dealer’s Investor’s
Clearance Bank Clearance Bank
clearing bank.
The New York Stock Exchange requires that all repo investors sign the PSA Master
Repurchase Agreement when entering into a letter repo trade with a broker-dealer.
A form of letter repo is safekeep repo. In a safekeep repo, the specific securities
held as collateral for the benefit of the investor does not change without the client's
prior notification. Alternatively, in a letter repo transaction, while the type of collateral
provided remains the same, the specific securities within the collateral pool may be
reassigned daily and does not require the client to be notified of any specific security
substitution.
1 Due to the nature of some collateral types, not all delivery alternatives may be available.
S a lo m o n B r o th e rs In c
o r S m ith B a rn e y In c
IN V E S T O R
U S T re a s u ry (6 1 /8 o f 1 1 /1 5 /2 7 )
MONEY
DAY 2 + R E P O IN T E R E S T
S a lo m o n B r o th e rs In c
o r S m ith B a rn e y In c IN V E S T O R
U S T re a s u ry (6 1 /8 o f 1 1 /1 5 /2 7 )
SECTION 3
- INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
A reverse repo is the converse of a repo and offers portfolio and liability managers
many of the same advantages that a repo offers dealers. Institutions who own
securities can finance, or lend, them through the reverse repo market. The same
rate tiering exists in the reverse market as in the repo market.
(2) Specific Issue (“Specials”) Market: Salomon Smith Barney or the investor
designates specific US Treasury issues
that it would like to borrow or reverse,
respectively. When a particular issue is
in high demand, holders of that issue can
benefit from interest rates that are
substantially below regular overnight
government reverse repo rates.
Whether participating in either the General Collateral or the Specific Issue Market,
an investor can lend US Treasury securities in one of three ways.
Each of the three lending alternatives is illustrated and briefly discussed below.
(A ) REVERSE REPO
DAY 1
COLLATERAL
DAY 2
COLLATERAL
In a reverse repo transaction, the client delivers securities to Salomon Smith Barney
versus cash payment. The client pays a rate of interest on the borrowed money; the
reverse repo rate. At maturity, the securities are returned versus cash payment,
including reverse repo interest.
FEE
DAY 2
BORROWED COLLATERAL
In a borrow versus pledge transaction, the client lends securities to Salomon Smith
Barney versus the delivery of acceptable pledge collateral. Salomon pays the lender
a fee to borrow the Treasuries. The fee paid in this type of transaction depends on
the demand for the particular borrowed security.
This type of transaction benefits entities who may not need to borrow cash and
accrue the interest expense that is associated with a reverse repo transaction.
In a borrow versus cash transaction, the client delivers securities to Salomon Smith
Barney versus a cash payment. At maturity, the securities are returned versus cash
plus a loan premium. The loan premium is equivalent to the reverse repo interest in
a reverse repo.
The General Collateral Market differs from the Specific Issue Market in that the
investor may lend an entire Treasury portfolio, or only a portion of it, at a rate and
term specified by the investor, regardless of which Treasury issues are held in the
portfolio.
The general terms and conditions for most General Collateral reverse repo
transactions with Salomon Smith Barney are as follows:
Mark-to-Market: Daily
Substitution: Permitted
(a)
The haircut is the difference between the market value of the underlying collateral and the dollar proceeds lent on a
reverse repo.
Salomon Smith Barney borrows specific US Treasury issues from lenders on a daily
basis. As soon as a specific Treasury issue is requested, it becomes a special
issue. When a particular issue is in high demand, holders of that issue can take
advantage of very attractive interest rates on the cash proceeds.
The Special Issue Market fluctuates daily as the supply and demand for certain
Treasury issues changes. The "current" issue in a particular maturity range (e.g., the
most recently issued 2, 3, 5, 10 and 30-year Treasury) usually averages the most
attractive basis point spread to general collateral rates. Additionally, the reverse repo
rate can vary substantially within a day on any particular issue.
The rate advantage gained by lending the special issue is calculated by subtracting
the overnight reverse repo rate for a particular "special" from the general collateral
repo rate on a given day, in this case, 5.50% - 4.50% = 1% or 100 bps.
The general terms and conditions for most Specific Issue reverse or lending
transactions with Salomon Smith Barney are as follows:
Mark-to-Market: Daily
The Mortgage Reverse Repo Market provides institutions with a source of financing
and liquidity for a broad range of mortgage securities.
The mortgage reverse market is more complex than the US Treasury reverse market
due to the complexities and wide range of:
1) collateral types (e.g., GNMA, FNMA, FHLMC, CMOs vs. pass-throughs);
2) varying delivery mechanisms;
3) piece sizes;
4) coupons;
5) tranche in CMOs; and
6) issuers.
Mark-to-Market: Daily
SECTION 4
Portfolio investors can augment the return on their existing government investments
by reversing or lending their US Treasury and Agency bonds to Salomon Smith
Barney on a short term basis and investing the proceeds in higher yielding
repurchase agreements.
The following grid lists the basis point returns that lenders who lend US Treasuries
or agency mortgages could realize by accepting the listed securities as collateral on
the repurchase.
(Borrow vs. TriParty Pledge or Reverse Repo and Third Party Repo)
Brady Bonds4 25 bp 25 bp
Whole Loans
Residential 20 bp 20 bp
Commercial 30 bp 30 bp
The rates listed above assume situations in which a Third Party custody facility is
utilized.
1. AT INCEPTION
2. AT MATURITY
As a result of this arbitrage transaction, the investor is able to lock in 25 bps (5.75% -
5.50%) or $2,166.66 ($49,833.33 - $47,666,67) for a 30 day period.
SECTION 5
The following four pages detail the mechanics of the three different ways in which a
Specific Issue can be loaned to Salomon Smith Barney:
1. Reverse repo,
2. Borrow vs. pledge and
3. Borrow vs. cash.
Standard terms for all of the trade scenarios are listed below.
DAY 1
U S T re a s u ry (6 1 /8 o f 1 1 /1 5 /2 7 )
S a lo m o n B ro th e rs In c
o r S m ith B a r n e y In c M O NEY IN V E S T O R
DAY 2 U S T re a s u ry (6 1 /8 o f 1 1 /1 5 /2 7 )
S a lo m o n B ro th e rs In c
o r S m ith B a r n e y In c M O NEY IN V E S T O R
+ R E V E R S E R E P O IN T E R E S T
DAY 1:
DAY 2:
DAY 1 U S T re a s u r y (6 1 / 8 o f 1 1 /1 5 /2 7 )
S a l o m o n B r o t h e r s In c
o r S m ith B a r n e y In c PLED G E C O LLAT ER AL IN V E S T O R
FEE
DAY 2 U S T re a s u r y (6 1 / 8 o f 1 1 /1 5 /2 7 )
S a l o m o n B r o t h e r s In c
o r S m ith B a r n e y In c
IN V E S T O R
PLED G E C O LLAT ER AL
( B O T H S I D E S O F T R A N S A C T IO N V S . M O N E Y )
DAY 1:
DAY 2:
DAY 1:
DAY2:
SECTION 6
A repurchase agreement is essentially two-party paper where the lender has the
credit of the counterparty in addition to the collateral as security. From the
perspective of both the dealer and the investor, counterparty credit is an important
issue. Each entity must assess the credit of its counterparty regardless of the
collateral.
The Drysdale bankruptcy in 1982, the failure of Lombard Wall, also in 1982, and the
bankruptcies of ESM and Bevill Bressler in 1985 are the dealer failures primarily
responsible for bringing about tighter regulations.
Regulatory Response
Lombard-Wall, 1982
Regulatory Response
Recognizing that the bankruptcy stay posed a threat to investor liquidity and
raised concern about the adequacy of standard margin practices, the Federal
Reserve Bank of New York and the Public Securities Association sponsored
legislation, enacted in 1984, that created an exemption from the stay rule for
repos, with maturities of up to one year, that were collateralized by
governments, agencies, CDs and BAs.
The legislation did not address the liquidation of banks, thrifts and SEC-
registered broker-dealers, each of which is subject to special bankruptcy
procedures administered by federal government agencies. However, each
of those agencies have stated that they would not stay the liquidation of repo
collateral absent evidence of fraud in the transactions.
Both firms entered into repo transactions in which the investors were
informed that the collateral underlying the transactions was being held in
safekeep at the firms’ respective clearing houses. These dealers were
double pledging the securities as collateral for loans from the clearing banks
while also using the same securities for repo transactions with more than
one investor. Additionally, reverse repo investors with ESM provided it with
excessive margin. Losses for reverse investors equaled the difference
between the market value of the securities (plus accrued interest) and the
cash received from the reverse.
Regulatory Response
In the aftermath of ESM and Bevill Bressler, market participants have taken
significant steps towards minimizing risks in repo transactions.
In turn, the FRBNY promulgated a 1.2 to 1 liquid capital-to-risk ratio for all
government securities dealers. Enforcement has depended upon market
participants limiting their repo transactions to dealers who conform to the standard.
Meanwhile, investors have actively instituted internal procedures for credit analyses
of government securities dealers.
Finally, Congress responded in 1986 with legislation that required registration of all
previously-unregulated government securities dealers subjecting them to regulation
by the US Department of the Treasury. The Treasury has proposed regulations
prescribing minimum capital requirements and mandatory procedures for assuring
the proper safekeeping of customer securities, including those subject to repurchase
agreements.
The New York Stock Enforces various rules that govern repo transactions
Exchange (“NYSE”) conducted by NYSE members.
SECTION 7
APPENDIX
- THIRD PARTY
- GLOSSARY OF TERMS
THIRD PARTY
Third Party is the simplest delivery alternative available for investors who require the
delivery of repo collateral. For Third Party deliveries, Salomon Smith Barney opens
a separate account for the investor at either The Bank of New York or The Chase
Manhattan Bank.
In a Third Party delivery, a custodian will effect the exchange of cash and securities
on the purchase date. The Third Party Custodian only transfers securities that have
been previously deemed acceptable by the buyer into a segregated account in the
name of the buyer. On the repurchase date, the Third Party custodian will again
effect the exchange of securities and cash between the buyer and seller,
respectively.
(At all times, the investor has money or collateral in the account.)
PRICING
The repo collateral is priced daily by both Salomon Smith Barney, using its own bid
prices from the prior night’s close, and the clearing bank.
The Bank of New York uses SST Street Software, Interactive Date Services Corp.
(IDSI), Muller Data service or Bridge Information Services. The Chase Manhattan
Bank uses Interactive Data Services Corp. (IDSI).
COLLATERAL ALLOCATION
Collateral is assigned by the cashiering department at Salomon Smith Barney from
the pool of collateral which remains after completion of the day’s deliveries.
The investor receives a hard copy confirm from both Salomon Smith Barney and the
clearing bank detailing all of the securities held in the account.
ADVANTAGES
The following diagrams illustrate the general mechanics of a third party facility.
$51MM
B of acceptable A
Investor’s Account
at T hird Party Bank
$51MM
C of acceptable B
Investor’s Account
at Third Party Bank
New accounts are opened within a day or two following the receipt of all
necessary documentation.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
OFF-THE-RUN - A non-current treasury issue. These issues are less likely to become a
"special".
PARTICIPANTS TRUST COMPANY (PTC) - Clearing Housing for wireable book-entry
GNMAs.
POSITIVE CARRY - Where the cost to carry or finance is less than the yield on a security.
PRINCIPAL VS. AGENT - In a principal transaction, the investor is acting for its own
account. An "agent" acts on behalf of the principal’s (someone else’s) account. In all
repo transactions, the principal must be known in order to avoid credit risk.
PUBLIC SECURITIES ASSOCIATION (PSA) - Is a national trading association that
represents banks, dealers and brokers who underwrite, trade and sell mortgage-backed,
government and municipal securities.
REPO AGREEMENT - A legally binding contract between a purchaser and a seller to
conduct repurchase transactions. The Public Securities Association has created a
standard Repurchase Agreement which minimizes the risk associated with repo
transactions.
REPO - A transaction which includes both the sale and subsequent repurchase of
securities at a specified time and at a specified price. As the "seller" of the securities, the
dealer pays a rate of interest (“repo rate") to the purchaser on the cash.
REVERSE REPO - The reverse of a repurchase transaction. A dealer purchases
securities from an investor and simultaneously agrees to sell them back at a later date.
The dealer provides the investor with cash on which the investor pays a specified rate of
interest ("reverse repo rate"). This is a source of financing for investors.
REVERSE-TO-MATURITY - A dealer purchases an issue on a reverse repo basis. The
term of the transaction extends to the maturity date of the issue.
SPECIAL ISSUE - An issue which is necessary to borrow in order to cover a short sale.
High demand creates a situation where a dealer will reverse in the security at a rate much
lower than the regular reverse repo rate.
SUBSTITUTION - One particular issue is substituted for another in a delivery. On a repo,
this can occur either before or after delivery is initiated. The investor is always informed of
the substitution.
TERM REPO - A repurchase transaction with a specified termination date greater than 1
day.
Although the information herein has been obtained from sources which Salomon
Smith Barney believes to be reliable, we do not guarantee its accuracy, and such
information may be incomplete or condensed. All opinions and estimates included
herein constitute our judgment as of this date and are subject to change without
notice. This material is for information purposes only and is not intended as an offer
or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any security.
This material is furnished on the understanding that Salomon Smith Barney is not
undertaking to manage money or act as a fiduciary with respect to your account or
any of your managed or fiduciary accounts and that our services do not serve as a
primary basis for any investment decision made with respect to such accounts. This
material provides information and/or alternatives which may be appropriate for your
consideration. The decision whether or not to adopt any strategy or engage in any
transaction is not our responsibility.
Smith Barney Inc and Salomon Brothers Inc, 1997 All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use, duplication or disclosure is
prohibited by law and will result in prosecution.