[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 31, Volume 2]
[Revised as of July 1, 2006]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 31CFR356.31]

[Page 381-382]
 
                  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 D_Miscellaneous Provisions
 
Sec.  356.31  How does the STRIPS program work?

    (a) General. Notes or bonds may be ``stripped''--divided into 
separate principal and interest components. These components must be 
maintained in the commercial book-entry system. Stripping is done at the 
option of the holder, and may occur at any time from issuance until 
maturity. We provide the CUSIP numbers and payment dates for the 
principal and interest components in auction announcements and on our 
website at www.publicdebt.treas.gov.
    (b) Treasury fixed-principal securities (notes and bonds other than 
Treasury inflation-protected securities--(1) Minimum par amounts 
required for STRIPS. The minimum par amount of a fixed-principal 
security that may be stripped is $1,000. Any par amount to be stripped 
above $1,000 must be in a multiple of $1,000.
    (2) Principal components. Principal components stripped from fixed-
principal securities are maintained in accounts, and transferred, at 
their par amount. They have a CUSIP number that is different from the 
CUSIP number of the fully constituted (unstripped) security.
    (3) Interest components. Interest components stripped from fixed-
principal securities have the following features:
    (i) They are maintained in accounts, and transferred, at their 
original payment value, which is derived by multiplying the semiannual 
interest rate and the par amount;
    (ii) Their interest payment date becomes the maturity date for the 
component;
    (iii) All interest components with the same maturity date have the 
same CUSIP number, regardless of the underlying security from which the 
interest payments were stripped, and therefore are fungible 
(interchangeable).
    (iv) the CUSIP numbers of interest components are different from the 
CUSIP numbers of principal components and fully constituted securities, 
even if they have the same maturity date, and therefore are not 
fungible.
    (c) Treasury inflation-protected securities--(1) Minimum par amounts 
required for STRIPS. The minimum par amount of an inflation-protected 
security that may be stripped is $1,000. Any par amount to be stripped 
above $1,000 must be in a multiple of $1,000.
    (2) Principal components. Principal components stripped from 
inflation-protected securities are maintained in accounts, and 
transferred, at their par amount. At maturity, the holder will receive 
the inflation-adjusted principal or the par amount, whichever is 
greater. (See Sec.  356.30.) A principal component has a CUSIP number 
that is different from the CUSIP number of the fully constituted 
(unstripped) security.
    (3) Interest components.--(i) Adjusted value. Interest components 
stripped from inflation-protected securities are maintained in accounts, 
and transferred, at their adjusted value. This value is derived by 
multiplying the semiannual interest rate by the par amount and then 
multiplying this value by: 100 divided by the Reference CPI of the 
original issue date. (The dated date is used instead of the original 
issue date when the dates are different.) See Appendix B, Section IV of 
this part for an example of how to do this calculation.
    (ii) CUSIP numbers. When an interest payment is stripped from an 
inflation-protected security, the interest payment date becomes the 
maturity date for the component. All interest components with the same 
maturity date have the same CUSIP number, regardless of the underlying 
security from which the interest payments were stripped. Such interest 
components are fungible (interchangeable). The CUSIP numbers of interest 
components are different from the CUSIP numbers of principal components 
and fully constituted securities, even if they have the same maturity 
date.
    (iii) Payment at maturity. At maturity, the payment to the holder 
will be derived by multiplying the adjusted value of the interest 
component by the Reference CPI of the maturity date, divided by 100. See 
Appendix B, Section IV of this part for an example of how to do this 
calculation.
    (iv) Rebasing of the CPI. If the CPI is rebased to a different time 
base reference period (See Appendix D.), the adjusted values of all 
outstanding inflation-protected interest components will be converted to 
adjusted values

[[Page 382]]

based on the new base reference period. At that time, we will publish 
information that describes how this conversion will occur. After 
rebasing, any interest components created from a security that was 
issued during a prior base reference period will be issued with adjusted 
values calculated using reference CPIs under the most-recent base 
reference period.
    (d) Reconstituting a security. Stripped interest and principal 
components may be reconstituted, that is, put back together into their 
fully constituted form. A principal component and all related unmatured 
interest components, in the appropriate minimum or multiple amounts or 
adjusted values, must be submitted together for reconstitution. Because 
inflation-protected interest components are different from fixed-
principal interest components, they are not interchangeable for 
reconstitution purposes.
    (e) Applicable regulations. Subparts A, B, and D of part 357 of this 
chapter govern notes and bonds stripped into their STRIPS components, 
unless we state differently in this part.