The central bank announced yesterday that effective Oct. 1, the auction time for treasury bonds and bills would be changed from 1:30pm to immediately after the close of bidding at midday. The move is aimed at improving sales efficiency and meeting global trends.
The change came after a market call for an early release of bidding results — currently announced at 2pm, half an hour after the auction time — and has gained support from the government’s financial departments and major domestic bond houses.
The Ministry of Finance recently invited the central bank, the Financial Supervisory Commission, Taiwan Stock Exchange and GRETAI Securities Market to discuss the feasibility of the switch, and the agreement to make the change was unanimous.
At present, in case of a system crash or connection failure, bidders are allowed to fax in their tenders as long as they submit the forms before the 1:30pm auction.
After Oct. 1, bidders will have to submit their documents before midday.
The central bank has also amended the Directions for Electronic Bidding for Central Government Bonds and Treasury Bills (中央公債及國庫券電子連線投標作業要點) to stipulate that a bidder faxing the tender forms via a designated fax number then has to submit the original documents “prior to 3:30pm on the day of bidding.”
In other developments, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement yesterday that it has commissioned the central bank to auction NT$30 billion (US$945.2 million) in 182-day treasury bills on Sept. 28, which would be issued the next day and mature on March 30 next year.
The sale of the bills would be used to cope with capital allocation by the government, the ministry said.
Banks, insurance firms, securities companies and Chunghwa Post Co (中華郵政) would all be eligible to participate in the bidding, the ministry said.
Individuals and institutional investors who would like to purchase the bills could place bids in the name of a bill brokerage — in accordance with the Act Governing Bills Finance Business (票券金融管理法), the ministry said.
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