United Kingdom : Extended Collateral Term Repo Facility

In a precautionary measure as the European debt crisis worsened in 2011, the Bank of England created a contingent liquidity insurance facility, the Extended Collateral Term Repo (ECTR) facility. This facility would swap sterling cash for eligible collateral on a short-term basis and could be implemented by the Bank’s governor, if liquidity pressures emerged. Under the initial framework, banks and building societies submitted their bids as a spread to the Bank Rate, subject to a minimum spread of 125 basis points, and paid the lowest accepted spread. In 2013, the Bank changed the name of the facility to the Contingent Term Repo Facility (CTRF). The Bank has activated the facility twice, in 2012 and 2020. During these activation periods, the Bank deviated from the framework’s pricing and fixed supply structures. In total, the Bank has lent more than GBP 22 billion through the facility during the two activation periods