The repurchase agreement (repo) market is an important component of the U.S. financial system, providing trillions of dollars of daily funding to large financial institutions and facilitating liquidity for U.S. Treasurys and other securities. The repo market allows participants to borrow cash against securities pledged as collateral, with an obligation to repurchase those securities in the future.
The U.S. repo market has four segments, which are distinguished by whether transactions are cleared through a central counterparty and whether a third-party custodian manages the pledged collateral. Transactions in the non-centrally cleared bilateral repo (NCCBR) market segment use neither a central counterparty nor a triparty custodian. We recently estimated that NCCBR has more than $2 trillion in outstanding commitments each day. Certain characteristics of the NCCBR market segment pose unique risks to financial stability relative to other segments. However, data gaps have limited the ability of financial regulators to monitor risks and vulnerabilities in this segment.
To better understand this segment of the repo market, in June 2022, we conducted a pilot survey of transaction-level repo data from 9 large dealers that are active in NCCBR (Pilot Data Collection).
Rule to Establish an Ongoing Data Collection
In May 2024, we adopted a Final Rule to establish an ongoing data collection of non-centrally cleared bilateral transactions in the U.S. repo market, the last repo market segment lacking a transaction-level data source. This collection will fill a critical data gap, supplementing the transaction-level information already available to the official sector on the triparty and centrally cleared market segments.
Covered Reporters are financial companies with large exposures to the NCCBR market, meaning at least $10 billion in NCCBR outstanding. Financial companies are defined as Covered Reporters under two categories. The first category focuses on brokers and dealers, while the second includes other financial companies. For details on the criteria to determine whether a company is a Covered Reporter, see the Final Rule section III(a).
The Final Rule became effective July 5, 2024, and Covered Reporters can begin testing their data submissions at any time. The timeline for financial companies that are Covered Reporters as of the effective date of the Final Rule is:
| Submissions testing can begin as early as… |
Compliance Date | Daily reporting begins no later than… |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Category 1 Covered Reporter | July 5, 2024 | December 2, 2024 | December 3, 2024 11 a.m. ET |
| Category 2 Covered Reporter | July 5, 2024 | April 1, 2025 | April 2, 2025 11 a.m. ET |
The OFR encourages Category 1 Covered Reporters to begin testing as early as possible.
The OFR encourages financial companies that meet reporting requirements to reach out to the OFR at DCU_Support@ofr.treasury.gov. OFR staff will provide onboarding instructions, set up Covered Reporters with connectivity to the OFR’s Data Collection Utility (DCU), and assist with submission testing as soon as they are ready. Other NCCBR-related questions can be directed to NCCBR_General_Inquiries@ofr.treasury.gov.
We have published a number of products to help financial companies determine if they qualify as Covered Reporters and to aid them in the reporting process.
FAQ about NCCBR reporting (Updated December 17, 2024)
Reporting Instructions (Updated September 25, 2024)
Technical Guidance (Updated September 25, 2024)
Fact Sheet (Updated August 30, 2024)
Related Documents
PRESS RELEASE | MAY 6, 2024
OFR Adopts Final Rule for Data Collection of Non-centrally Cleared Bilateral Transactions in the U.S. Repurchase Market
NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING (NPRM) | JAN 5, 2023
Collection of Non-Centrally Cleared Bilateral Transactions in the U.S. Repurchase Agreement Market
PRESS RELEASE | JAN 5, 2023
Office of Financial Research releases Proposal to Collect Data on Certain Repo Transactions
FACT SHEET | JAN 5, 2023
NCCBR Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Fact Sheet
BLOG | DEC 5, 2022
OFR’s Pilot Provides Unique Window Into the Non-centrally Cleared Bilateral Repo Market
BLOG | AUG 24, 2022
Non-centrally Cleared Bilateral Repo
FROM THE DIRECTOR | AUG 1, 2022
OFR Continues Efforts to Fill Key Gap in Financial Data