6/04/03
YieldAuction
Guidelines for State and Local Government Buyers and State and Local
Government Sellers
Acknowledging Guidelines and Disclaimer:
Upon logging in to YieldAuction, Authorized Users
acknowledge they have reviewed and accept Guidelines and Disclaimer, which are
accessible via Guidelines and Disclaimer links on the YieldAuction Home Page.
Any time an amendment to Guidelines and/or Disclaimer is posted, the date the
amendment was posted will be displayed next to Guidelines and Disclaimer links.
Creating Approved Bidder List:
To create an Approved Bidder List, Sellers provide Grant
Street Group with their general list of Approved Buyers. From this general
list, Sellers may create one or multiple Approved Bidder Lists and may add or
remove selected Approved Buyers from Approved Bidder Lists at any time.
Sellers are solely responsible for maintaining Approved Bidder Lists.
Creating General Solicitations:
Sellers may solicit bids by creating a solicitation on their
Solicitation Page. Sellers designate number of maturities to solicit, Open or
Sealed auction, solicitation period, Minimum Rate (optional), amount solicited
(in accordance with Amount Provisions), Minimum Bid (optional), settlement
date, maturity date, type of Instruments, and Approved Buyers. Grant Street
Group is available to assist Sellers with creating solicitations on their
behalf. Sellers are solely responsible for the accuracy of the terms of their
solicitations.
Creating Portfolio Solicitations:
Sellers may solicit bids for a portfolio of securities by
creating a solicitation on their Solicitation Page. Sellers may solicit bids on
an AON and/or MBM basis. For a portfolio, Sellers designate number of
maturities, Open or Sealed auction, solicitation and bid submission periods,
total proceeds, settlement date,
Instruments, and Approved Buyers. For each maturity, Sellers designate
amount solicited (in accordance with Amount Provisions) and maturity date. Grant
Street Group is available to assist Sellers with creating solicitations on
their behalf. Sellers are solely responsible for the accuracy of the terms of
their solicitations.
Term Sheet for Portfolio Solicitation:
Sellers provide Grant Street Group with a Term Sheet for
posting to the YieldAuction web site. Sellers are solely responsible for the
accuracy of the Term Sheet.
Buyers are obligated to read and abide by the provisions of the Term Sheet.
Saving and Submitting Bids in Portfolio Solicitations:
Sellers may designate two phases for a portfolio
solicitation period: (1) a first phase in which Buyers' bids may be saved
only, and (2) a second phase in which Buyers may save or submit
bids(the "Bid Submission Period"). Buyers may save bids without completing all inputs required for a submitted bid. On the Solicitation Page, Sellers may view saved bids;
however, saved bids are not Eligible Bids and Buyers are not obligated to submit
saved bids. To submit a bid, Buyers must input bids in accordance with the "Preparing
and Submitting Bids" section below.
Preparing and Submitting Bids:
Buyers must complete the required inputs displayed on the
Bid Page and must input bids in accordance with Amount Provisions, Rate
Provisions, Price Provisions and Bid Limits in order to submit bids. For
certain solicitations, Buyers are permitted to select a maturity date other
than the one designated by Seller.
Verifying Bids:
Buyers submitting bids will have an opportunity to verify
the terms of their bids and the Transaction Fee. Bids submitted in accordance
with Guidelines herein become Eligible Bids. Buyers are obligated to honor
submitted bids if accepted by Sellers, except as provided in the
Award/Acknowledge Time Limits section herein.
Converting Bid Inputs:
To prioritize bids on Sellers' Solicitation Page, Buyers'
rate inputs may be converted to another rate reflecting a common basis of
comparison.
Instruments
Solicited
|
Converted Rate
|
Any Instrument or combination of
Instruments, excluding Agency CPN and T-Note/Bond/STRIPS
|
MMY
|
Agency CPN or T-Note/Bond/STRIPS in combination with any
other Instrument or Instruments
|
IRR
|
Verifying CP Ratings:
Buyers and Sellers are solely responsible for verifying
ratings of CP issues. Grant Street Group makes no representation regarding the
accuracy of ratings of any CP issue displayed on YieldAuction.
Starting, Modifying and Canceling Solicitations:
Solicitations start in accordance with solicitation periods
established by Sellers when creating solicitations. Sellers may modify
solicitations up to the time the solicitation period begins; or, in the
case of portfolio solicitations, Sellers may modify solicitations up to the
time the Bid Submission Period begins. Sellers may cancel
solicitations up to the time the solicitation period ends.
Sending Solicitation Alerts:
Creating, starting and modifying solicitations will
automatically send Solicitation Alerts to Sellers' Approved Buyers.
Number of Bids:
In Sealed auctions, Buyers may submit any number of
better and/or worse bids. In Open auctions, Buyers may submit better
bids only, as provided in Prioritizing Bids section herein.
Prioritizing Bids:
Bids will be prioritized and Bid Status determined in one of
two ways, as designated by Sellers: (1) by highest rate; that being equal, then
by greatest amount; those both being equal, then by first bid received, or (2)
by highest rate; that being equal, then by first bid received; those both being
equal, then by amount.
Accepting or Rejecting Bids:
Sellers may elect to make automatic or discretionary awards.
In either case, Sellers reserve the right to reject any or all bids at their
sole discretion.
Automatic Awards:
Automatic awards are made to Buyers
(in full or in part) based on Bid Status immediately after the solicitation
period ends.
Discretionary
Awards:
For discretionary awards, Sellers
must promptly accept or reject bids once the solicitation period ends. Sellers
may accept bids in full or in part (subject to
Minimum Bid limits), at their discretion. Sellers are not obligated to accept
bids with the highest rates and, except as provided in the paragraph
below, they cannot accept an amount from any Buyer greater than that Buyer's
bid amount.
For certain discretionary awards,
Sellers may accept amounts from Buyers greater than their bid amounts, but not
amounts greater than $1 million. In such solicitations, Buyers will be
notified of this possibility before they bid.
For certain discretionary awards,
Sellers may be subject to a time limit for accepting or rejecting bids, as
provided in the Award/Acknowledge Time Limits section herein.
Acknowledging or Withdrawing Bids:
In Sealed auctions only, Buyers may withdraw their
bids during the solicitation period.
In Sealed and Open auctions, once the solicitation period
ends and upon Sellers' acceptance of bids, Buyers must acknowledge their bids,
unless Buyers are subject to a time limit for acknowledging or withdrawing
bids, as provided in the Award/Acknowledge Time Limits section herein. After
Buyers acknowledge their bids, they may enter or revise their settlement
instructions via the Settlement link.
Award/Acknowledge Time Limits:
Sellers and Buyers may be subject to a time limit, whereby
Sellers have a specific amount of time to accept or reject bids (the "Award
Period") and Buyers have a specific amount of time to acknowledge or withdraw
bids (the "Acknowledge Period"). The particular period (i.e., Award Period or
Acknowledge Period) and time remaining will be disclosed to Sellers on their
Solicitation Page and to Buyers on their Bid Page.
Open and Sealed Auctions:
SELLER'S
|
BUYER'S
|
AWARD PERIOD
|
ACKNOWLEDGE PERIOD
|
|
|
Seller can accept
|
If Seller accepts during
|
or reject.
|
Award Period,
|
|
Buyer can acknowledge
|
Buyer cannot
|
or withdraw during
|
withdraw.
|
Acknowledge Period.
|
|
|
If Seller rejects or allows
|
If Seller accepts during
|
Award Period to expire,
|
Award Period, and Buyer
|
there is no trade.
|
allows Acknowledge Period
|
|
to expire (or withdraws),
|
|
there is no trade.
|
When Sellers accept bids during
Award Period, the Award Period immediately ends and Acknowledge Period begins.
Settlement:
Sellers and Buyers are responsible for settlement of
transactions conducted on YieldAuction. Settlement information is provided on
the Settlement Page and is accessible via the Settlement link. Sellers and
Buyers are responsible for promptly providing settlement instructions and/or
verifying the accuracy of such data on the Settlement Page. Grant Street Group
assumes no responsibility for inaccuracies in settlement instructions.
Disclosing Results:
Buyers who submit bids or, in particular solicitations,
Buyers who formally pass on solicitations, may see bidding results via the
Results Archive link on their Bid Page. Results will be accessible after either
(a) Sellers reject bids, or (b) Buyers acknowledge bids.
Sellers may elect to disclose to all bidders the identities
of Buyers who submitted bids or passed.
Transaction Fee Disclosure and Payment:
Buyers awarded deposits will be charged a Transaction Fee.
The Transaction Fee will be displayed to Buyers on the Verification Page
(before their bid is transmitted to Sellers) and on the Settlement Page (after
they have received an award).
Transaction Fees will be paid via Automated Clearing House
("ACH") debit two business days following the trade date. Completion of the
ACH Debit Authorization on the Settlement Page represents Buyers' authorization
to debit their account. Under certain circumstances, alternative payment
arrangements can be made with the permission of Grant Street Group.
Definitions:
AON:
Agency CPN:
Coupon securities issued by any of the following: (a)
Federal Farm Credit Banks ("FFCB"), Federal Home Loan Banks ("FHLB"), Federal
National Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae"), Federal Home Loan Mortgage
Corporation ("Freddie Mac"), Student Loan Marketing Association ("Sallie Mae"),
or Tennessee Valley Authority ("TVA").
Agency DISC:
Discount securities issued by any of the following: (a)
Federal Farm Credit Banks ("FFCB"), Federal Home Loan Banks ("FHLB"), Federal
National Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae"), Federal Home Loan Mortgage
Corporation ("Freddie Mac"), Student Loan Marketing Association ("Sallie Mae"),
or Tennessee Valley Authority ("TVA").
Agency INT:
Interest-bearing securities issued by Federal Farm Credit
Banks ("FFCB"), which pay all interest at maturity.
Amount Provisions:
All amount inputs by Sellers and Buyers are either in
millions (e.g. $50,000,000 is input as "50" or $50,123,456.78 is
input as "50.12345678") or actual dollars (e.g. $50,000,000 is input
as "50,000,000") as determined by Sellers and displayed on the Seller's
Solicitation Page and the Buyer's Bid Page.
Approved Bidder List:
Seller's list of Approved Buyers.
Approved Buyer:
Buyer designated by Seller to receive Solicitation Alerts
and permitted by Seller to bid on Seller's solicitations.
Authorized Users:
Registered users who bid or solicit on behalf of Buyers or
Sellers.
Bid Limits:
One or more of the following limits established by Sellers
and displayed on Buyer's Bid Pages: Minimum Rate, Maximum Amount, Minimum Bid
and Increment.
Bid Status:
In an Open auction, the status of a Buyer's bid relative to
other bids during an auction in accordance with the Prioritizing Bids Section
herein. The Bid Status may be expressed as either: 1) the amount such bid is
"In the Money", or 2) the rank order of such bid (i.e., 1st, 2nd,
3rd, 4th, etc.). Bid Status does not show rates
or amounts submitted by other bidders, nor does it show identities of other
bidders.
Buyers:
Authorized Users who submit bids for funds offered by Sellers.
CD (Neg):
Negotiable certificates of deposit
held in book-entry form at Depository Trust Company.
CD (Non-Neg):
Non-negotiable certificates of
deposit.
CP:
Commercial paper
Eligible Bids or Bids:
Bids submitted and verified by Buyers that meet Guidelines
(i.e., bids eligible for acceptance by Sellers). The term "bid" or
"bids" as used in these Guidelines means "Eligible Bid" or
"Eligible Bids", unless otherwise noted (i.e., saved bids).
IRR:
Internal rate of return. IRR is that rate at which future
cash receipts from interest payments and maturity amounts discounted back to
the settlement date equal the initial amount of the investment.
Increment:
Instruments:
Means any of the following:
CD (Non-Neg),
CD (Neg),
Repo,
CP,
Agency DISC,
Agency CPN,
Agency INT,
T-Bill,
T-Note/Bond, or
STRIPS.
MBM:
Maturity-by-maturity, as distinct
from all-or-none ("AON").
MMY:
Money market yield
Maximum Amount:
Maximum amount Buyers are permitted to submit, as designated
by Sellers.
Minimum Bid:
The minimum amount Buyers may submit, as designated by
Sellers. If no minimum amount is specified by Seller,
Minimum Bid is $1,000.
Minimum Rate:
Minimum interest rate Buyers may submit, as designated by
Sellers.
Open auctions:
Solicitations in which Buyers who submit bids can see
their Bid Status.
Price Provisions:
All price inputs by Buyers should
be expressed as a percentage, up to 1/100,000 of one percent (e.g., 99.12345%).
Rate Provisions:
All interest rate (and yield)
inputs by Sellers and Buyers should be expressed as a percentage, up to
1/100,000 of one percent (e.g., 3.12345%).
Repo:
Repurchase Agreements
Sealed auctions:
Solicitations in which Buyers who submit bids cannot
see their Bid Status.
Sellers:
Authorized Users who offer funds for sale.
Solicitation Alerts:
Electronic messages delivered to Approved Buyers via email
or, for those logged into YieldAuction, via pop-up browser window, which
contain summary information pertaining to particular solicitations and serve as
an invitation to bid in response to Sellers' solicitations.
State and Local Government Sellers:
State and local government entities offering funds for sale.
State and Local Government Buyers:
Buyers of funds offered by State and Local Government
Sellers.
STRIPS:
U.S. Treasury STRIPS (Separate
Trading of Registered Interest and Principal of Securities)
T-Bill:
U. S. Treasury Bills
T-Note/Bond:
U. S. Treasury Notes or Bonds
Term Sheet:
Seller's official request for bids to Buyers which sets
forth the terms and conditions of the solicitation for a portfolio of
securities.
Transaction Fee:
Annualized fee based on the principal
amount of the deposit awarded, payable to Grant Street Group, the
Auction Administrator.