// definition
Government bond auction
Bidding and allocation at issuance
Short definition
A procedure that allocates securities based on submitted bids. French OAT auctions award each successful bid at its submitted price. US Treasury auctions award successful bids at a uniform price corresponding to the highest accepted yield, rate or discount margin. Bids, awards and settlement describe different stages.
risk atlas
Knowledge map
Intuition
Auctions match quantities with prices. Awards precede settlement, and the face amount can differ from the cash raised.
Why it matters now
The refunding calendar becomes a risk signal when volumes to issue rise and the marginal buyer demands more yield.
Related analyses
- Government debt: the price of getting out
- Government debt: the first buyerPrice, face value, settlement and bidding channels in France and the United States.
Related guides
- Reading the Treasuries marketCurve, auctions, holders and the term premium.
Related datasets
- risk.jsonPublic snapshot of the risk signals.
- debt-risk.jsonDebt Risk Radar snapshot with provenance.
- risk-diff.json1, 7 and 30-day diff of signals, sources and models.
- signals/history.jsonPoint-in-time history of the signals.
Signals using it
- MethodologyDebt, interest burden, current stress and structural vulnerability.
- Risk DiffRecent change in risk and source freshness.
- Black Box RecorderHashed frames to replay a point-in-time state.
Primary sources
- AFT, issuance techniquesSubmitted prices and allocation rules for French OATs.
- TreasuryDirect, How Auctions WorkUniform-price allocation and payment on the issue date.