356.11—How are bids submitted in an auction?
(a) General.
(1)
All bids must be submitted using an approved method, which depends on whether you are requesting us to issue the awarded securities in the commercial book-entry system, in TreasuryDirect ®, or in Legacy Treasury Direct ® (See § 356.4 ). The approved submission methods for these respective systems are explained in this section. A bidder must provide its assigned bidder identification numbers if it has been assigned one. We have the option of accepting or rejecting incomplete bids.
(2)
We must receive competitive and noncompetitive bids prior to their respective closing times, which are stated in the auction announcement. We will not include late bids in the auction. For bids other than those submitted on paper forms, our computer time stamp will establish the receipt time. You are bound by your bids after the closing time.
(3)
We are not responsible for any delays, errors, or omissions. We are not responsible for any failures or disruptions of equipment or communications facilities used for participating in Treasury auctions.
(4)
Submitters are responsible for bids submitted using computer equipment on their premises, whether or not such bids are authorized.
(b) Commercial book-entry system.
(1)
If you are a submitter and the awarded securities are to be issued in the commercial book-entry system, you must submit bids using one of our approved electronic methods except for contingency situations.
(2)
You must have an agreement on file with us under which you agree to our terms and conditions for access to our system for participating in our auctions.
(3)
In contingency situations, such as a power outage, we may accept bids by a telephone call to designated Treasury employees if you submit them prior to the relevant bidding deadline.
(c) TreasuryDirect.
You must submit your bids through your established book-entry, online TreasuryDirect account. You may reinvest the proceeds of maturing securities held in TreasuryDirect by directing that the proceeds be used to purchase a certificate of indebtedness in your TreasuryDirect account and by using the proceeds of your certificate of indebtedness to pay for the securities.
(d) Legacy Treasury Direct.
(1)
If you are a submitter and the awarded securities are to be issued in Legacy Treasury Direct, you may submit bids by using one of our approved methods, e.g., computer, automated telephone service, or paper forms. You may also reinvest the proceeds of maturing securities into new securities through the same methods.
(2)
If you are submitting bids by paper form, you must use forms authorized by the Bureau of the Public Debt and provide the requested information. We have the option of accepting or rejecting bids on any other form. You are responsible for ensuring that we receive bids in paper form on time. A noncompetitive bid is on time if:
(ii)
The envelope it arrived in bears evidence, such as a U.S. Postal Service cancellation, that it was mailed prior to the auction date.
(3)
If you are submitting a bid by computer or automated telephone service you must be an established Legacy Treasury Direct account holder with a Taxpayer Identification Number.
(4)
In contingency situations, such as a power outage, we may accept bids by other means, provided, that in all cases the bids are submitted prior to the relevant bidding deadline by an established Legacy Treasury Direct account holder.