The MEF announces an auction of BOTs for 29 December 2009, settlement date on 4 January 2010:
| Amount (in million euros) | Maturity | Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Six-month BOTs | 10,000 | 30.06.2010 | 177 |
Please note that on 31 December 2009, BOTs for 10,550 million euros will reach maturity.
BOTs are offered via a competitive auction and dealers' bids are expressed in terms of yield.
Treasury bonds can be subscribed for a minimum amount of one thousand euros. For each issue of BOTs, the fiscal price of reference is the weighted average price of the first tranche, calculated on the basis of the corresponding weighted average yield.
Yields indicated by dealers participating in the BOTs auctions, expressed in percentage terms, may vary, in respect of all types of securities, by 0.001% or multiple thereof. Bids without yield reference will not be admitted to auction. Each bid can not be under one and a half million euros (1,500,000€).
Dealers set forth in the decrees authorising the issuance of the BOTs are eligible for participation in the auction.
In application of the provisions set forth in Sec.II - Title V of Legislative Decree 24 June 1998, no. 213 and related implementation provisions on the dematerialization of Government bonds, BOTs are represented by account registrations entered in favour of the entitled. The Banca d'Italia automatically enters the BOT amounts subscribed at auction and settles them through the clearing and settlement facility for financial instruments, entering the date of settlement as value date. On the basis of allocations, the broker allocatees will credit the related amounts to the subscribers' accounts.
Purchase bids - a maximum of three - must be submitted to the Banca d'Italia strictly by means of the national interbanking network, within and no later than 11am of 29 December 2009, in compliance with the procedures and provisions set forth in the issuance decrees. Please note that should there be a malfunctioning of the system, thereby preventing the transmission of messages on the network, requests for participation in the auction must be sent via fax.
Bids received after the deadline set in the issuance decrees will not be considered. Bids in replacement of previously submitted requests will be taken into consideration only if they arrive by the aforementioned deadline. Requests cannot be withdrawn after the aforementioned deadline.
Should any dealer's bids exceed, including as a whole, the amount offered by the Treasury, they will be taken into consideration starting from the one with the lowest yield, up to the amount offered, unless otherwise provided for in the issuance decrees.
State bond specialists are eligible for participation in the additional placement of six-month BOTs, which is set to take place automatically on 30 December 2009.
The amount of the additional tranche is fixed at 10% of the nominal amount offered in the issuance auction. This percentage is the minimum amount offered in the additional placement, which the Treasury may increase after the closing of the issuance auction to satisfy the demand expressed by dealers. In that event, a specific press release will be published.
Specialists who did not participate in the issuance auction shall not be eligible to participate in the additional placement. Allocation will take place at the weighted average yield set in the issuance auction. The additional placement procedure will follow the provisions set forth in the issuance decree. Specifically, purchase bids must be submitted within and no later than 3:30pm of 30 December 2009.
Outstanding BOTs at 15 December 2009 amounted to 150,645,638 million euros, of which 62,348,043 million euros at six months and 88,297,595 million euros at twelve months.