Treasury Bills

Treasury Bills (T-Bills) are short term securities issued by the Government of Malta. They are considered to be of a very low risk nature and highly liquid instruments. T-bills mature in one year or less and  like zero-coupon bonds, they do not pay interest prior to their maturity.  Instead they are purchased at a discount to the par value creating a positive yield to maturity. The interest is determined by the discount rate which is set when the bill is auctioned in the primary market.  Treasury Bills are an ideal medium for ‘parking’ excess short-term liquidity.

The Central Bank of Malta acts as a market-maker for Malta Government Treasury Bills in the local secondary market.  Daily bid and offer prices and yields are published for all outstanding T-Bills on the website of the Central Bank of Malta, Reuters, Bloomberg and local newspapers.  The offer price in the secondary market quoted by the Central Bank of Malta normally reflects the latest weighted average yield in the primary market.  The Broker of the Central Bank of Malta does not deal in Treasury Bills with less than 5 working days to maturity.  T-Bills advices are issued in electronic form through a dispatch of a registration advice confirming that the T-Bill has been registered in the name of Rizzo Farrugia & Co Stockbrokers Ltd on behalf of clients.

Issues:

T-Bills are available in 28-day (1 month),  91-day (3 month), 182-day (6 months), 273-days (9 months) and 364-day (12 months) maturities.

Interest:

Zero-Coupon.  The interest is equal to the face value minus the purchase price.  The interest is determined by the discount rate which is set when the bill is auctioned in the primary market or purchased in the secondary market.

Tax:

15% final withholding tax is applicable on maturity of the T-Bill and is calculated on the difference between the purchase price and the redeemed amount at par.

Redemption:

If Bills are held to maturity, redemption will be made at 100% and is repaid by means of a bank transfer to the clients’ account of Rizzo Farrugia & Co Stockbrokers Ltd.

Primary Market Auctions:

T-Bills are issued through a competitive bidding process at the weekly auctions. If you want to bid for a T-Bill a tender has to be submitted to the Treasury.  In the competitive bidding you have to specify the amount and the return (yield) that you would like to receive. If the return you bid for is too high, you may not be successful or your bid may be partially filled. Successful bidding depends on various factors such as the Treasury’s liquidity requirements, prevailing interest rates and investor demand.  Auctions on T-Bills are usually held weekly (on a Tuesday), with settlement for successful bidding being effected by the following Friday. The Government, through the Treasury, issues a calendar every month indicating timetable of new issues.

Minimum amount for auction:

€50,000

Multiples:

€1,000

Secondary Market Trading:

All Treasury Bills are freely tradable daily through a stockbroker on the Malta Stock Exchange. T-Bills are traded in lots of €1,000. Interested clients may contact us to complete the necessary formalities and purchase instructions must be accompanied by transfer of funds in advance.

Trading Hours:

Daily from 09:30 hrs to 10:30 hrs.

Settlement:

Settlement for T-Bill transactions (both purchases and sales) takes place on trade date (T+0). In the case of purchases, funds must be placed to the credit of our clients’ accounts for same day value on the morning of the transaction PRIOR to execution. Once confirmation of cleared funds is received, we will proceed with the T-Bill purchase. Settlement will then be made by SWIFT transfer to the MSE by 13:15 hrs on trade date.

Contacts:

For further information prospective investors are invited to speak to their relationship manager at our offices on telephone number 2258 3000 or by email on trading@rizzofarrugia.com.

Click here to view latest yields and weekly auction results.