12-Month Bill Auction

The 12-Month EU-Bill Auction is the longest EU-Bills leg, the Union's sub-one-year debt. The European Commission runs it on behalf of the European Union under the unified funding approach since January 2023. Auction sales began in September 2021; the 12-month tenor joined in January 2025.

It is not a national auction, secondary-market yield, retail rate or policy rate. Nor is it a bond sale: bills mature in under a year, EU-Bonds run from 3 to 30 years.

Auctions run twice monthly, as a rule on the first and third Wednesday; August holds one, December an optional second. Each auction is announced days ahead, giving ISIN code, auction, settlement and maturity dates and up-to volumes in millions of euros. The calendar is indicative: deals may be cancelled or added.

Only EU Primary Dealer Network members may bid, through the Banque de France TELSAT platform. Dealers connect at 09:45 Central European Time (CET); bidding ends at 12:00. Results appear the same day per leg and stand final; settlement usually follows two business days later.

Each auction sells three legs together, one role per maturity.

• 12-month leg: opens new at the first monthly auction from 0, with later sales tapping lines to show one-year EU funding cost.
• 3-month leg: taps an outstanding short line at every auction and shows very-short-term funding conditions.
• 6-month leg: uses outstanding 12-month lines for the 6-month bucket, showing money-market funding.

The January 8, 2025 auction offered three legs of up to 1500 million euros each; figures below are millions of euros. Announced January 3, 2025, it settled January 10, 2025.

The 3-month leg drew bids of 2662 for sales of 1391. It averaged 2.639% under a 2.655% top, with 100.00% at the top and cover of 1.91.

The 6-month leg drew bids of 3020 for sales of 1400, from old outstanding of 0 to 1400. It averaged 2.541% under a 2.560% top, with 40.57% at the top and cover of 2.16.

The 12-month leg drew bids of 4478 for sales of 1449, from old outstanding of 0 to 1449. It averaged 2.378% under a 2.390% top, with 46.54% at the top and cover of 3.09.

So the longest leg drew top demand at 3.09 yet paid least at 2.378%. Shares of 40.57% and 46.54% show cut-off rationing, against 100.00% on the shortest leg.

1. Bids: Eligible dealers offer yield and volume through TELSAT between 09:45 and 12:00 CET on auction day. Each dealer must buy at least 0.05% each half year.
2. Cut-off: Bids fill from the lowest yield up, and the last yield taken is the highest accepted yield.
3. Rationing: Bids below the top fill in full; bids at the top share pro-rata. The share at the top equals allotted there divided by bid there times 100, so 100% means full sale.
4. Weighted average yield: The weighted average yield is taken yields weighted by volume. It cannot top the highest accepted yield, as 2.378% against 2.390% shows.
5. Cover ratio: Cover equals bids over sales: 4478 over 1449 gives 3.09. Arithmetically, 1.00 is the full-subscription line, with more above it. The publisher sets no threshold for yields or cover.
6. New outstanding: New outstanding equals old plus sales. A new line runs 0 plus 1449 to 1449, and the short leg ran 3433 plus 1391 to 4824.
7. Weighting: Yields weight by sales, and dealer scores cover half-year buying with a 5% cap per dealer per leg. No seasonal adjustment applies to this standalone nominal event.
8. Example: As an illustration only, take 500 at 2.30%, 600 at 2.38% and 400 at 2.40% with 349 taken, in millions. That gives sales of 1449 for bids of 1500 and cover of 1.04. The average is 2.357%, the top share 87.25%, and the new total 1449 from 0.