What is the Term Auction Facility (“TAF”)?
In view of the pressures evident in short-term funding markets, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Board”) has approved the establishment of a temporary Term Auction Facility (“TAF”) program in which the Federal Reserve will auction term funds to depository institutions. The TAF is a credit facility that allows a depository institution to place a bid for an advance from its local Federal Reserve Bank at an interest rate that is determined as the result of an auction. By allowing the Federal Reserve to inject term funds through a broader range of counterparties and against a broader range of collateral than open market operations, this facility could help ensure that liquidity provisions can be disseminated efficiently even when the unsecured interbank markets are under stress.
