Any individual or legal entity, resident or non-resident, may bid for and subscribe Treasury securities. Bids can be submitted at any branch of the Bank of Spain, following the Bank's own procedures and within the date and time limits established in the Resolution calling the auction.
Investors other than Account Holders in the Book-Entry System can enter their bids directly or through a Management Institution or a placement agent authorised by the General Directorate of the Treasury and Financial Policy.
Management Institutions and Account Holders in the Book-Entry System must lodge their bids with the Bank of Spain between 8.30 and 10.00 a.m. on the day of the auction via their computer terminals with the Bank of Spain Settlement Service, or by calling them in via the Money Market Telephone Service. In the case of Primary Dealers, the deadline is extended to 10.30 a.m.
Individuals going directly through the Bank of Spain must submit their bids two days before, specifying the Management Institution which will act as a depository for their securities.
Bids are considered firm orders for the purchase of the Debt instrument applied for, subject to the terms of the issue, and failure to pay in full on the payment date set will give rise to the corresponding liability or, as the case may be, loss of the deposit made previously as a guarantee (comprising 2% of the nominal amount bid for).
Bids may be of two types:
1. Competitive bids, where bidders indicate their best price for the Debt instrument in question. Bid prices must be expressed as a percentage of the nominal value, with three decimal places in the case of Letras del Tesoro (the last decimal being 0 or 5), two decimal places for Bonos del Estado (the last decimal place freely selected from 0 to 9 inclusive) and two decimal places for Obligaciones del Estado (the last a 0 or a 5). Notwithstanding this, the Treasury may modify these formulae if circumstances so advise. Competitive bids not specifying a price will be deemed null and void. The General Director of the Treasury and Financial Policy may limit the number and maximum amount of competitive bids that each auction participant can submit, and set a minimum or stop-out price
2. No competitive bids, where Debt buyers do not specify a bid price, but accept the weighted average price resulting from the auction. The overall nominal amount of non competitive bids per bidder may not exceed in general 1,000,000 euros.
Bids must amount to at least 1,000 euros for both competitive and non competitive bids. As of these minimum amounts, the bids submitted must be multiples of 5,000 euros.
Investors other than Account Holders in the Book-Entry System presenting their bids directly in the Bank of Spain must make a prior deposit -in cash or by cheque- of 2% of the nominal amount bid for, in guarantee of payment. The deposit may be made in cash, by debit order in the current account held at the Bank of Spain branch where the bid has been lodged, or by bank or current account cheque made out to the Treasury or the Bank of Spain. Cheque deposits must be made far enough in advance for the Bank of Spain, through its clearing systems, to ensure they will be honoured before the close of the bid submission period. The deposit will be part of the payment if the bid is successful. If the bid fails, or the auction is declared void, the Bank of Spain will return the deposit to the bidder, ordering such repayment on the first business day following the resolution of the auction, and the institutions concerned will return the money in the shortest possible time.