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Full-Text Articles in Economic Policy

United States: Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility, Steven Kelly Jul 2022

United States: Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility, Steven Kelly

Journal of Financial Crises

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the US Congress passed and funded the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to help small businesses facing business disruptions keep workers on their payrolls and meet other expenses. The PPP, signed into law on March 27, 2020, provided a mechanism for authorized lenders to extend concessionary, forgivable loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA). Lenders ultimately extended approximately $800 billion in PPP loans. The SBA distributed the funds when the loan either defaulted or met the law's terms for SBA forgiveness. To buttress lenders' ability to fund PPP loans, the Federal Reserve …

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United States: Primary Dealer Credit Facility, Carey K. Mott Jul 2022

United States: Primary Dealer Credit Facility, Carey K. Mott

Journal of Financial Crises

In March 2020, the uncertain outlook for the United States in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic prompted extremely high demand for cash and near-cash assets. Amid intense selling pressure from investors, securities dealers were unable to fully absorb the high volume of trade orders into their inventory due to balance sheet capacity and funding constraints. As dealer capacity declined and demand for liquidity continued rising, volatility spread to the critical and normally highly liquid market for US Treasury securities, prompting the Federal Reserve to increase open market operations (March 12) and begin historically large purchases of US Treasuries (March …

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United States: Municipal Liquidity Facility, Steven Kelly Jul 2022

United States: Municipal Liquidity Facility, Steven Kelly

Journal of Financial Crises

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused severe financial stress for state and local municipalities. Municipalities' public health responses led to material increases in expenditures. At the same time, many municipalities faced revenue delays and declines due to extended tax deadlines and disruptions in taxable economic activity. Institutional investors also put heavy selling pressure on municipal bonds. In response to stresses in the municipal financing market, the Federal Reserve invoked its Section 13(3) emergency lending authority and created the Municipal Liquidity Facility (MLF). The Fed created the facility to backstop municipal entities' access to capital markets to help them manage …

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United States: Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility, Carey K. Mott, Mallory Dreyer Jul 2022

United States: Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility, Carey K. Mott, Mallory Dreyer

Journal of Financial Crises

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, prime and tax-exempt money market funds (MMFs) faced increased demands for redemption. Meeting redemptions required MMFs to sell assets into increasingly illiquid markets. Using the emergency authority outlined in Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve established the Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility (MMLF), a facility similar in structure and purpose to a program that the Fed implemented in 2008 amidst the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). The MMLF extended nonrecourse loans to banks and their affiliates for the purchase from some …

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United States: Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility Ii, Lily S. Engbith Jul 2022

United States: Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility Ii, Lily S. Engbith

Journal of Financial Crises

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 caused widespread economic uncertainty, prompting government officials to act swiftly to combat potentially severe fallout. On March 23, 2020, the Federal Reserve announced a series of monetary policy measures and established several emergency lending facilities to assist the US economy. Among these, the Fed revived the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF), a Global Financial Crisis (GFC)-era facility that used a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to encourage the issuance of asset-backed securities (ABS). Its main purpose was to restore the flow of credit to households and businesses. TALF II made $100 …

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United States: Commercial Paper Funding Facility Ii, Lily S. Engbith Jul 2022

United States: Commercial Paper Funding Facility Ii, Lily S. Engbith

Journal of Financial Crises

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 caused widespread economic uncertainty, prompting government officials to act swiftly to combat potentially severe fallout. On March 17, 2020, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve announced the revival of the Commercial Paper Funding Facility (CPFF), a program that the government had utilized during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) to provide a liquidity backstop to domestic issuers of commercial paper (CP). As with the first iteration of the program, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) funded a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to purchase highly rated, US dollar-denominated CP, …

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United States: Primary Market Corporate Credit Facility And Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility, Natalie Leonard Jul 2022

United States: Primary Market Corporate Credit Facility And Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility, Natalie Leonard

Journal of Financial Crises

The COVID-19 pandemic reached a critical stage in early 2020 causing severe distress and disruption in financial markets, and the United States government declared a federal state of emergency in the second week of March. As institutional investors including mutual funds, pension funds, and insurance companies withdrew from corporate bond markets and funding options for large US businesses dried up, the Federal Reserve became concerned that solvent businesses might have difficulty financing their operations. On March 23, the Federal Reserve Board invoked Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act, creating two novel emergency lending facilities to support the corporate bond …

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United Kingdom: Covid Corporate Financing Facility, Adam Kulam Jul 2022

United Kingdom: Covid Corporate Financing Facility, Adam Kulam

Journal of Financial Crises

During the COVID-19 crisis, sterling-denominated money markets froze, and otherwise-healthy companies were shut out of short-term, wholesale funding markets. To unfreeze these markets, the UK government announced a series of corporate funding measures. One of the measures was the Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF), which enabled the Bank of England (BoE), acting on behalf of Her Majesty's Treasury's, to purchase commercial paper (CP) on primary and secondary markets from eligible dealers. The purpose of the CCFF was to provide stopgap wholesale funding to large, financially healthy firms while preserving British banks' capacity to serve small and medium-sized companies. Under the …

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Thailand: Bond Stabilization Fund, Corey N. Runkel Jul 2022

Thailand: Bond Stabilization Fund, Corey N. Runkel

Journal of Financial Crises

Early in the COVID-19 crisis, non-financial businesses grew concerned that they would be unable to roll over their maturing bonds. To calm corporate debt markets, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) announced the Bond Stabilization Fund (BSF) on March 22, 2020. The BSF planned to purchase newly issued commercial paper from viable companies that could not roll over their maturing bonds. However, the program was not used. The BOT, seeking to avoid public criticism for directly supporting large corporations, imposed restrictions that made the program less attractive to borrowers. The main deterrent to participation was the requirement that borrowers must have …

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United Kingdom: Asset Purchase Facility, Adam Kulam Jul 2022

United Kingdom: Asset Purchase Facility, Adam Kulam

Journal of Financial Crises

The global outbreak of COVID-19 spurred investors to sell the British gilt in a synchronized fashion, which caused dysfunction in primary and secondary gilt markets. Yield spreads spiked, and primary dealers temporarily stepped back from dealing in gilts during a trading session on March 19, 2020. Liquidity premia were also high in non-gilt, fixed-income markets. That same day, the Bank of England (BoE) announced GBP 200 billion (USD 234 billion) of asset purchases through the Asset Purchase Facility (APF) to preserve liquidity in both gilt and corporate bond markets as part of larger efforts to prevent an undesirable tightening of …

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Sweden: Corporate Bond Purchases, Carey K. Mott Jul 2022

Sweden: Corporate Bond Purchases, Carey K. Mott

Journal of Financial Crises

In the spring of 2020, corporate revenues in Sweden felt the direct effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting public health measures. With future cash flows in question, many investors sold corporate debt for safe assets. Sweden's corporate bond market-particularly vulnerable to stress due to its heterogeneity, fragmentation, and lack of transparency-saw diminished liquidity. On March 19, 2020, the Sveriges Riksbank (Riksbank) announced it would purchase commercial paper and corporate bonds as part of a much larger bond-buying scheme, announced three days earlier, that included Swedish government, municipal, and covered bonds. It authorized the program under Chapter 6, Article …

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South Korea: Corporate Liquidity Support Organization, Lily S. Engbith Jul 2022

South Korea: Corporate Liquidity Support Organization, Lily S. Engbith

Journal of Financial Crises

The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the early months of 2020 strained liquidity in short-term corporate funding markets around the world. In response, the Korean government enacted a variety of direct and indirect measures to promote the smooth flow of credit to households and businesses. Most of these measures focused on highly rated companies. Recognizing the need to extend assistance to lower-rated issuers, the Bank of Korea (BoK) invoked its authority under Article 80 of the Bank of Korea Act to establish and fund the Corporate Liquidity Support Organization, Co., Ltd., a special-purpose vehicle (SPV) authorized to purchase up …

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Sweden: Commercial Paper Purchases, Carey K. Mott Jul 2022

Sweden: Commercial Paper Purchases, Carey K. Mott

Journal of Financial Crises

In March 2020, governments took measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic that significantly impacted corporate revenues. The uncertainty surrounding the pandemic drove investors out of corporate securities and into safe assets, complicating the ability of Swedish nonfinancial corporations to finance their operations. As the volume of commercial paper issuance dropped, the Sveriges Riksbank (Riksbank) announced on March 19, 2020, it would purchase commercial paper and corporate bonds as part of a much larger bond-buying scheme that included Swedish government, municipal, and covered bonds. It authorized the program under Chapter 6, Article 5 of the Sveriges Riksbank Act. …

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Japan: Special Funds-Supplying Operations, Sharon M. Nunn Jul 2022

Japan: Special Funds-Supplying Operations, Sharon M. Nunn

Journal of Financial Crises

The Bank of Japan responded to the COVID-19 economic downturn in March 2020 with several financial stability interventions. The Special Funds-Supplying Operations to Facilitate Financing in Response to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) (SFSO) offered interest-free loans of up to one year in maturity to eligible financial institutions in an attempt to encourage broader lending to Japanese businesses and households. Counterparties could pledge as collateral a broad range of corporate and private debt, including corporate bonds and asset-backed securities. Enhancements made throughout the program's operation led to substantial increases in SFSO use. First, the BoJ expanded institution and collateral eligibility, as …

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Israel: Corporate Bond Purchase Program, Natalie Leonard Jul 2022

Israel: Corporate Bond Purchase Program, Natalie Leonard

Journal of Financial Crises

By March 2020, the quickly spreading novel coronavirus began disrupting business activity and industry, generating uncertainty throughout the global economy. As financial panic spread, Israeli investors fled to liquidity, impacting equities, corporate bonds, and even Israeli treasury securities. As short-term horizon mutual funds experienced high withdrawals in the first few weeks of March, they were forced to sell corporate bonds. This increase in supply pushed corporate bond prices down, and yields spiked. Between March and May, domestic rating agencies downgraded 23 companies (12% of all rated companies), and by July 2020, yields remained in the double-digits for 23% of corporate …

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Eurozone: Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program, Corey N. Runkel Jul 2022

Eurozone: Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program, Corey N. Runkel

Journal of Financial Crises

The COVID-19 pandemic quickly engulfed the European Union's economy in 2020. As investors sought safe assets, marketable debt yields rose dramatically. To lower the cost of borrowing, the European Central Bank (ECB), alongside the 19 national central banks (NCBs) that comprise the Eurosystem, purchased marketable debt in secondary markets. Asset eligibility mirrored that of the ECB's Asset Purchase Program (APP), an ongoing quantitative easing program which the ECB expanded during the pandemic. The main difference was that the PEPP allowed debt issued by Greece, which did not have an investment-grade credit rating. The rate that the PEPP purchased securities within …

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Canada: Provincial Bond Purchase Program, Natalie Leonard Jul 2022

Canada: Provincial Bond Purchase Program, Natalie Leonard

Journal of Financial Crises

In the beginning of 2020, the outbreak of the novel coronavirus placed significant strain on financial markets and especially affected commodity-producing countries like Canada. As the broad economy contracted, oil-exports fell, and the government imposed public health restrictions to contain coronavirus, the Bank of Canada (BoC) announced emergency measures to ensure functioning of financial markets and to "reach companies and households and foster a robust recovery" (Poloz 2020, 1). One market that faced acute strain was the Canadian provincial bond market. The BoC announced the Provincial Bond Purchase Program (PBPP) through a notice published on April 15, 2020. The stated …

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Canada: Provincial Money Market Purchase Program, Lily S. Engbith Jul 2022

Canada: Provincial Money Market Purchase Program, Lily S. Engbith

Journal of Financial Crises

In response to the COVID-19 crisis in early 2020, the Bank of Canada (BoC) enacted wide-ranging measures to support the flow of credit to individuals, firms, and municipalities. On March 24, 2020, the BoC established the Provincial Money Market Purchase Program (PMMPP) to address liquidity strains in provincial funding markets. The BoC initially committed to purchasing up to 40% of each offering of directly issued provincial money market securities with terms of 12 months or less, including provincial treasury bills and short-term promissory notes. All Canadian provinces were eligible for participation in the program. The program's utilization peaked at 7.6 …

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Canada: Government Bond Purchase Program, Corey N. Runkel Jul 2022

Canada: Government Bond Purchase Program, Corey N. Runkel

Journal of Financial Crises

In Canada, the shock of the COVID-19 crisis drove up bid-ask spreads on Government of Canada (GoC) bonds. The Bank of Canada (BoC) announced the Government Bond Purchase Program (GBPP) to support the functioning of its government bond market, support other market liquidity tools, and replace the BoC's long-standing fiscal agent activities. The GBPP conducted multi-rate reverse auctions with primary dealers to purchase GoC bonds in the secondary market. The GBPP purchased bonds across the yield curve but concentrated on two- and five-year tenors. In June 2020, with CAD 64.7 billion (USD 48 billion) outstanding, the BoC announced that the …

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Canada: Mortgage Bond Purchase Program, Ezekiel Vergara Jul 2022

Canada: Mortgage Bond Purchase Program, Ezekiel Vergara

Journal of Financial Crises

Given the negative financial and economic shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bank of Canada (BoC) adopted several policies, including a suite of monetary policies, to maintain a healthy level of market liquidity. Among these measures, the BoC established the Canada Mortgage Bond Purchase Program (CMBP) on March 16, 2020. Through the CMBP, the BoC purchased Canada Mortgage Bonds (CMBs) from primary dealers on the secondary market, holding the CMBs on its balance sheet. The bank created the CMBP, which operated twice weekly and targeted purchases of up to CAD 500 million (USD 373 million) per week, to "support the …

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Canada: Corporate Bond Purchase Program, Sharon M. Nunn Jul 2022

Canada: Corporate Bond Purchase Program, Sharon M. Nunn

Journal of Financial Crises

The Bank of Canada (BoC) activated its Corporate Bond Purchase Program (CBPP) from May 26, 2020, to May 26, 2021, in response to liquidity strains in corporate bond markets that stemmed from economic uncertainty and the COVID-19 pandemic. Policymakers enacted the CBPP as part of a broader suite of policies meant to stabilize the Canadian economy. Through the CBPP, the BoC purchased Canadian corporate bonds through a tender process on the secondary market. The CBPP could hold up to CAD 10 billion (USD 7.7 billion) par value of eligible bonds issued by specific non-deposit-taking firms incorporated in Canada. The bonds …

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Canada: Bankers’ Acceptance Purchase Facility, Corey N. Runkel Jul 2022

Canada: Bankers’ Acceptance Purchase Facility, Corey N. Runkel

Journal of Financial Crises

Bankers’ acceptances (BAs) are a form of investment security guaranteed by banks to fund loans to businesses against their credit lines. In Canada, BAs underpin the Canadian Dollar Offered Rate (CDOR), the main benchmark used to calculate floating interest rates in Canada’s derivatives market. In 2018, BAs formed the largest segment of money market securities traded in the secondary market at around CAD 35 billion (USD 26 billion) per week. When asset managers and the country’s public pension providers began shedding BAs amid the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, CDOR spiked, and the effects threatened to ripple throughout the Canadian …

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Canada: Commercial Paper Purchase Program, Lily S. Engbith Jul 2022

Canada: Commercial Paper Purchase Program, Lily S. Engbith

Journal of Financial Crises

In response to the onset of the COVID-19 crisis in early 2020, the Bank of Canada (BoC) enacted a wide-ranging program of monetary measures intended to support the flow of credit to individuals, firms, and municipalities. On March 27, 2020, the BoC announced the establishment of the Commercial Paper Purchase Program (CPPP), a liquidity facility designed to purchase highly rated commercial paper (CP), including asset-backed CP, from Canadian incorporated firms, municipalities, and provincial agencies. The BoC funded the program using settlement balances, and it retained several private firms to manage the asset purchases and liaise with issuers. Although firms took …

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United States: Y2k Special Liquidity Facility, Natalie Leonard Jul 2022

United States: Y2k Special Liquidity Facility, Natalie Leonard

Journal of Financial Crises

As the United States prepared for the century date change (Y2K) on January 1, 2000, uncertainty about computer functioning generated uncertainty in capital markets. The Federal Reserve (Fed) grew particularly concerned that computer malfunctioning would cause disruptions in the short-term federal funds and repurchase (repo) markets. Many market participants indicated early in 1999 that they would restrict their normal trading activities and curtail credit in the weeks leading up to Y2K, which contributed to the Fed’s anticipation that liquidity might dry up. To ease pressures, the Fed created two special facilities through the Open Market Trading Desk of the Federal …

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United States: Y2k Standby Financing Facility, Natalie Leonard Jul 2022

United States: Y2k Standby Financing Facility, Natalie Leonard

Journal of Financial Crises

As the United States prepared for the century date change (Y2K) on January 1, 2000, uncertainty about computer functioning generated uncertainty in capital markets. The Federal Reserve (Fed) grew particularly concerned that computer malfunctioning would cause disruptions in the short-term federal funds and repurchase agreement (repo) markets. Many market participants indicated early in 1999 that they would restrict their normal trading activities in the weeks leading up to Y2K, which contributed to the Fed’s concern that liquidity might dry up. To ease pressures, the Fed created two special facilities through the Open Market Trading Desk of the Federal Reserve Bank …

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United States: Term Auction Facility, Corey N. Runkel, Anshu Chen Jul 2022

United States: Term Auction Facility, Corey N. Runkel, Anshu Chen

Journal of Financial Crises

Following the announcement on August 9, 2007, by BNP Paribas that it was suspending redemptions for three of its open-end investment funds that had invested heavily in mortgage-backed securities, liquidity in the American interbank and short-term funding markets tightened considerably. On August 17, the Federal Reserve lowered the cost of borrowing from the discount window. However, usage remained low, due largely to the perception that such borrowing implied weak financials. In December, the Fed launched the Term Auction Facility (TAF), which used single-rate auctions to mitigate this stigma. The TAF offered discount-window credit of 28 days, and later, 84 days. …

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United States: New York Clearing House Association,The Panic Of 1907, Corey N. Runkel Jul 2022

United States: New York Clearing House Association,The Panic Of 1907, Corey N. Runkel

Journal of Financial Crises

Signs of financial panic had marked the months leading up to mid-October 1907 when depositors began to run on banks and trust companies across New York City, most notably the Knickerbocker Trust Company, then New York City’s third largest, on October 22. Cash injections from the US Treasury and from leading banker J.P. Morgan failed to reassure depositors and investors. On October 26, the New York Clearinghouse (NYCH), whose membership included most banks in New York, voted to issue clearinghouse loan certificates (CLCs) to help stabilize the financial panic. CLCs were collateralized by securities and could be used among members …

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United States: Reconstruction Finance Corporation Emergency Lending To Financial Institutions, 1932–1933, Natalie Leonard Jul 2022

United States: Reconstruction Finance Corporation Emergency Lending To Financial Institutions, 1932–1933, Natalie Leonard

Journal of Financial Crises

In the lead-up to the Great Depression, bank credit rapidly expanded and bank capital ratios declined. Banks, suffering from fallen commodity prices, failed at a high rate in the 1920s, and these failures rapidly accelerated in 1930. On January 22, 1932, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) was created “to provide emergency financing facilities for financial institutions, to aid in financing agriculture, commerce, and industry, and for other purposes.” The original legislation gave the RFC broad authority to provide collateralized loans to almost any bank or corporation, especially small rural banks that could not access the Federal Reserve’s discount window and …

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United States: New York Clearing House Association, The Panic Of 1884, Benjamin Hoffner Jul 2022

United States: New York Clearing House Association, The Panic Of 1884, Benjamin Hoffner

Journal of Financial Crises

The New York Clearing House Association (NYCH), whose membership included most banks in New York, acted as a lender of last resort during the National Banking Era (1863–1913). In the Panic of 1884, following idiosyncratic deposit runs that forced three NYCH member banks to close, the NYCH membership unanimously agreed to issue clearinghouse loan certificates (CLCs) that banks could use as a temporary substitute for currency in the payment of interbank clearinghouse balances. The NYCH required the borrowing bank to post sufficient collateral to secure the loan, subject to a minimum 25% haircut (excluding US government bonds secured at par) …

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United States: New York Clearing House Association, The Panic Of 1890, Benjamin Hoffner Jul 2022

United States: New York Clearing House Association, The Panic Of 1890, Benjamin Hoffner

Journal of Financial Crises

Before the advent of the Federal Reserve System, private clearinghouses provided emergency liquidity support to the banking system during panics. The most notable of these institutions, the New York Clearing House Association (NYCH), supported its member banks by issuing clearinghouse loan certificates (CLCs), short-term collateralized loans guaranteed by the NYCH, as an alternative liquidity source during banking panics; member banks used CLCs exclusively for the purpose of temporarily settling payments with other NYCH members. During the Panic of 1890, the NYCH issued $16.65 million of CLCs between November 12 and December 22, 1890. The Loan Committee received requests from and …

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