Issuance and buyback arrangements

Australian Government Securities are issued and repurchased by competitive tender and occasionally via syndicated offerings. The tenders are conducted by the AOFM using the AOFM Tender System, which is accessed via Yieldbroker DEBTS. Bids and offers may only be submitted by parties that are registered with the AOFM.

• Registration requires entering into a Registered Bidder Agreement with the AOFM, which binds the Registered Bidder and AOFM to the AOFM Tender System Conditions of Operation. For more information about becoming a Registered Bidder, see How to become a Registered Bidder.
• All bids and offers must comply with the applicable Information Memorandum (Treasury Bonds, Treasury Indexed Bonds and Treasury Notes).
• Erroneous bids and offers will be treated in the manner described in the Erroneous Tender Bids/Offers Policy (see below).

Tender announcements provide full details of each tender. Results are announced as soon as possible after the close of the tender.

• Notification of tender announcements and results can be obtained by subscribing to the AOFM email service.

Details of the AOFM's issuance and repurchase plans are outlined in the AOFM issuance program.

Erroneous Bids/Offers Policy

Treasury Bonds and Treasury Indexed Bonds

Bids (offers) submitted at yields more than five basis points below (above) the prevailing secondary market yield (as judged by the AOFM) will be judged to be erroneous, and amended to yields five basis points below (above) the secondary market yield, with allocations made accordingly. Where a Treasury Bond or Treasury Indexed Bond has no observable secondary market yield (for example at the first issue of the security), the AOFM will use judgement to determine a reasonable comparison yield for bids.

Treasury Notes

Bids submitted at yields more than ten basis points below the prevailing secondary market yield (as judged by the AOFM) will be judged to be erroneous, and amended to yields ten basis points below the secondary market yield, with allocations made accordingly. Where a Treasury Note has no observable secondary market yield (for example at the first issue of the security), the AOFM will use judgement to determine a reasonable comparison yield for bids.

Telephone Bids (Offers) Policy

In accordance with the AOFM Tender System Conditions of Operation, “In certain circumstances, including but not limited to Tender System application failure, a Registered Bidder may request the AOFM to enter bids or offers in the Tender System on behalf of the Registered Bidder. Any such request will be actioned at the AOFM’s discretion and the AOFM makes no guarantee that the request will be acted upon free of errors or prior to the close of the tender. The Registered Bidder bears the consequences of any such requests.”

The use of telephone bids (offers) is to be limited to situations in which technical faults or circumstances prevent a registered bidder’s approved users from entering bids (offers) in the Yieldbroker DEBTS system. Telephone bids (offers) may be placed by registered bidders and accepted by the AOFM, at its discretion, before or during the course of a tender in Yieldbroker DEBTS. The AOFM will limit the number of acceptable bids in the final 5 minutes of the tender.

Telephone Bids (Offers) Protocols

A registered bidder should call the Head of Funding and Liquidity in the first instance (+612 6263 1135) to place telephone bids (offers). If the Head of Funding and Liquidity is unavailable, any other Funding and Liquidity team member may be called to submit telephone bids (offers). During the phone call the registered bidder must clearly identify themselves, nominate the account which they are authorised to submit bids (offers) on behalf of and indicate the volume(s) and outright yield(s) at which they request the AOFM to enter bids (offers) on their behalf.

Telephone bids (offers) will only be placed once the AOFM officer has read back each of the details of the bids (offers) to the registered bidder and the registered bidder clearly accepts the terms read back. For the bids (offers) to be placed, this step of the process must be completed prior to the time announced for closure of the tender according to the clock in the tender system. Telephone bids (offers) may not be submitted or accepted if there is not enough time remaining to complete this step. The AOFM will limit the number of acceptable bids in the final 5 minutes of the tender.

As soon as possible during or shortly after the phone call, the registered bidder is to send an e-mail to funding@aofm.gov.au confirming the details of the bids (offers) placed on their behalf and the circumstances giving rise to the necessity for placing the bids (offers) by telephone.

In the event of a discrepancy between the placed telephone bids (offers) and the confirmation e-mail, the recording of the telephone conversation will be reviewed and stand as the correct bids (offers). Where it has been determined that the confirmation e-mail did not match the placed telephone bids (offers), registered bidders will be asked to submit a subsequent e-mail detailing the correct bids (offers).