The German Federal Government (the Bund) meets most of its borrowing requirements through single issues in the primary market. Smaller contributions to its funding are made by the sale of German Government securities in the secondary market that stem from the portions set aside in the auctions as well as some permanent issues distributed to retail customers. The single issues that the Bund plans for the following calendar year are announced in its preview published at the end of the each year. The single issues announced in this annual preview are placed exclusively by auction. In exceptional cases the German Federal Government uses a banking syndicate to place special funding tools in the primary market. Only members of the Bund Issuance Auction Group can participate in the auctions.