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Bill - Security type

From the Collaborative Bond and Money Market Data Portal

 

In the Collaborative Bond and Money Market Data Model, the Bill classification appears within the field Security Type which is part of the universe of Bond and Money Market Instruments.

Definition: A Bill or treasury bill is a short term negotiable debt instrument issued by a sovereign that promises to pay the bearer or registered owner an amount or a number of amounts in the future.

Bills are typically issued by sovereigns.  Traditionally, the instrument is coupon bearing and matures at par (100%). However, zero coupon and floating rate Bills also exist. Typically the instrument is short term, up to one year, but can be longer, for example in some European domestic markets can easily be up to 2 or 3 years.

As permitted by applicable securities laws, this instrument entitling the owner to one or more future cash flows, can be bought and sold to anyone. This negotiability distinguishes the instrument from a bilateral loan, where in theory you cannot sell the future cash-flows without the permission of payer.

Recognising an instrument as a Bill within securities clearing and settlement systems, can come about without any form of programme documentation.

In capital market data analysis it is therefore recommendable to look beyond the segmentation of markets by mere security type and instead focus on the actual term and structure of the instrument.  However, a distinction between CP, CD and Bills as instruments of the below 1 year money markets and Bonds, Notes and MTNs as instruments of the over 1 year bond markets seems fair.

Based on available data, on the 1st of December 2015, the size of the EU Euro denominated Bill market was EUR468bn.

For information on issues in Bill market, please use the Instrument search tool.
For information on the current size of the Bill market, please use the data sheet tool.
For information on the composition of the Bill market, please use the issuer search tool.
For information on active dealers in the Bill market, please use the dealer search tool.
For information on active investors in the Bill market, please use the fund search tool.

Wikipedia