[Code of Federal Regulations] [Title 31, Volume 2] [Revised as of July 1, 2002] From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access [CITE: 31CFR356.12] [Page 358-359] TITLE 31--MONEY AND FINANCE: TREASURY CHAPTER II--FISCAL SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY PART 356--SALE AND ISSUE OF MARKETABLE BOOK-ENTRY TREASURY BILLS, NOTES, AND BONDS (DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY CIRCULAR, PUBLIC DEBT SERIES NO. 1-93)--Table of Contents Subpart B--Bidding, Certifications, and Payment Sec. 356.12 Noncompetitive and competitive bidding. (a) General. All bids, including bids for reopenings, must state the par amount of securities bid for and must equal or exceed the minimum bid amount stated in the offering announcement. Bids that exceed the minimum bid amount must be in the multiple stated in the offering announcement. (b) Noncompetitive. A bidder bidding competitively for its own account may not bid noncompetitively for its own account in the same auction. A request for reinvestment of securities maturing in TREASURY DIRECT is a noncompetitive bid. (1) Maximum bid. A bidder may not bid noncompetitively for more than $1 million in a bill auction or more than $5 million in a note or bond auction. The maximum bid limitation does not apply to bidders who are bidding solely through TREASURY DIRECT reinvestment requests. (2) Additional restrictions. Between the date of the offering announcement and the time of the official announcement by the Department of the auction results, a noncompetitive bidder may not hold, at any time, a position for its [[Page 359]] own account in when-issued trading or in futures or forward contracts in the security being auctioned or enter into any agreement to purchase or sell or otherwise dispose of the securities it is acquiring in the auction. For purposes of this paragraph, futures contracts include those: (i) That require delivery of the specific security being auctioned; (ii) For which the security being auctioned is one of several securities that may be delivered; or (iii) That are cash-settled. (c) Competitive. A bidder bidding noncompetitively for its own account may not bid competitively for its own account in the same auction. (1) Bid format--(i) Treasury bills. For all bills except cash management bills, a competitive bid must show the discount rate bid, expressed with three decimals in .005 percent increments. The third decimal must be either a zero or a five, e.g., 5.320 or 5.325. Fractions may not be used. For cash management bills, a competitive bid must show the discount rate bid, expressed with two decimals in .01 percent increments, e.g., 5.14. Fractions may not be used. (ii) Treasury fixed-principal securities. A competitive bid must show the yield bid, expressed with three decimals, e.g., 4.170. Fractions may not be used. (iii) Treasury inflation-indexed securities. A competitive bid must show the real yield bid, expressed with three decimals, e.g., 3.070. Fractions may not be used. (2) Maximum recognized bid. There is no limitation on the maximum dollar amount that a bidder may bid for competitively, either at one yield or discount rate, or at different yields or discount rates. However, a competitive bid by a bidder at a single yield or discount rate that exceeds 35% of the public offering amount will be reduced to that amount. For example, if the public offering is $10 billion, the maximum bid amount that will be recognized at any one yield or discount rate from any bidder is $3.5 billion. (See Sec. 356.22 for award limitations.) [58 FR 414, Jan. 5, 1993, as amended at 60 FR 13907, Mar. 15, 1995; 62 FR 851, Jan. 6, 1997; 62 FR 32033, June 12, 1997; 62 FR 43093, Aug. 12, 1997; 63 FR 4187, Jan. 28, 1998]