The annualized rate of interest paid on the loan is known as the repo rate. The repo rate is the interest rate that the lender charges the borrower. The implied repo rate comes from the reverse repo market, which has similar gain or loss variables as the implied repo rate.
Interest rates payable on special repos tend to be lower than those payable on repo. This is because a party reverse repo on a special security will accept a reduced interest rate on its funds in exchange for receiving the special security it requires. Economically, the transaction is no different from cash collateralized securities lending. Pricing of either type of deal depends upon demand for the desired security. Because of the repos are essentially secured loans, their interest rates doing not depend upon the respective counterparties' credit qualities.
All types of futures and forward contracts have an implied repo rate, not just bond contracts. The rate of return that can be earned by simultaneously selling a bond futures or forward contract and then buying an actual bond of equal amount in the cash market using borrowed money.
The bond is held until it is delivered into the futures or forward contract and the loan is repaid. The repo rate for a particular transaction depends on the following factors.
One of the factors is credit quality. It is like most other securities. The interest rate varies inversely with the credit quality of the issuer. So, the higher of the credit quality, then it will be the lower of the repo rate.
Besides that, other factor is liquidity. It is very important and liquidity and the greater liquidity will lower the trading costs. So, the liquidity will affect the rate and affect the market.
Then, delivery is also one of the factors. If the collateral must be delivery in physically, then the lender may charge higher rate of repo. This is because the lender wants to cover the delivery costs.
Lastly, collateral availability is also an important factor that will affect the repo rate. For example, if it is a special issue and it is very hard to have it, then the seller of the issue may try to obtain lower rate of repo from a lender that needs the collateral.
Speculative Trading
Since interest rates on short-term money market instruments changes daily, repos can also be used to profit from speculations about future interest rates by, hopefully, borrowing low and lending high, as long as the differential is great enough to cover trading costs. For instance, if a speculator thought that interest rates were going to rise over the next several months, she could borrow money from a repo with a term of 90 days, then do overnight reverses with the money. If her prediction is correct, then she can lend at successively higher interest rates while paying the locked-in lower rate on her 90-day repo. If her prediction is wrong, then she will still have to do the reverse repos, so that she can earn whatever interest she can, but it will be less than what she is paying, then she will suffer a loss.
If a speculator thought that interest rates will be going down over the next several months, and then he would do a reverse term repo by lending the money which he got from an overnight repo for a term of 90 days, then continue borrowing the money through overnight repos to pay back the overnight repo that is maturing and rolling over the debt at successively lower interest rates while getting a higher interest rate for his reverse. If the speculator bet wrong, then he would have to pay more in interest than he would earn.
A dealer firm can sometimes profit from the credit spread of a matched book, which is a repo and reverse repo of the same maturity.
Some trades in the repo market are done to cover short positions. When a dealer shorts securities, it may try to temporarily replace those securities with a repo. It will first look to its customers to see if any of them will do a reverse using the shorted security. If that is not possible, then the dealer will use the services of a repo broker, especially if the securities are difficult to acquire, called a hot issue or special issue. The repo can only replace the securities temporarily. Eventually, the dealer will have to buy the securities to replace those that were sold short and hopefully at a lower price.
Repo characteristic
There are three types of repo maturities. There are overnight repo, term repo, and open repo. Overnight refers to a one-day maturity transaction. Term refers to a repo with a specified end date and it usually one week to one month. Open repo simply has no end date. The interest rate on open repos is slightly higher than on overnight repos. An open repo or open-maturity repo is a contractual relationship that allows the borrower to borrow funds up to a certain limit, without signing a new contract and it like an open credit arrangement.
Although repos are typically short-term, it is not unusual to see repos with a maturity as long as two years. An open repo reduces settlement costs if the repo has to be rolled over. However, each party has the right to cancel at any time. Open repos also gives the dealer the right of substitution, which allows the substitution of other securities of similar credit quality for the collateral. The firm that makes the loan for a repo and usually a bank has a reverse repo position that reversing in, to do repo, and to buy collateral, which is simply the opposite side of a repo. For every repo, some party has the reverse repo. Repo may either be "cash-driven" or "securities-driven". In a cash-driven repo, the repo transaction is used to obtain cash funding. Securities used as collateral are not specific and usually consists of off-the-runs. For securities-driven repo, repo buyers are specifically seeking a particular identified security typically on-the-runs or benchmark securities mainly for the purpose of covering short-sale positions. Both types of repo transactions are transacted between market participants and the central bank via standard repo and benchmark repo auctions respectively.
Repo transactions occur in three forms: specified delivery, tri-party, and held in custody. The third form is quite rare in developing markets primarily due to risks. The first form requires the delivery of a prespecified bond at the onset, and at maturity of the contractual period. Tri-party essentially is a basket form of transaction, and allows for a wider range of instruments in the basket or pool. Tri-party utilizes a tri-party clearing agent or bank and is a more efficient form of repo transaction.
Delivery
For the delivery, the problem is the cost of repos is the delivery of collateral. For example, if the lender does not take possession of the collateral, then the borrower could borrow more funds using the same collateral and increasing the credit risk for the lender. The lender must take possession to protect its interests which an added cost that the borrower must pay. However, for overnight repos, physical delivery would be virtually impossible.
In these cases, the borrower can set up a custodial account for the lender at a clearing bank. While the loan is outstanding, the securities are held in the custodial account for the benefit of the lender. When the repo is repaid, then the clearing bank can move the collateral back to the borrower, or to another account for a repo with another lender. Since the collateral can be moved by simply adjusting the beneficial owner in the electronic record of the collateral, the delivery is fast and cheap.
