German Government securities
The market for German Government securities is widely regarded as liquid, straightforward and clearly structured. With original maturities ranging from twelve months to 30 years, there are permanently more than 70 liquid tradable securities in circulation across virtually the entire yield curve.
Maturities and volumes
German Government securities have maturities ranging from a half to 30 years. After their initial issue in the auction process and usually a number of increases, the capital market securities reach volumes of around € 15 bn to more than € 20 bn.
In the money market segment, the Federal Government basically issues Treasury discount paper (Bubill) with a maturity of 12 months.
Capital market products start with Federal Treasury notes (Schatz) with a maturity of two years, followed by five-year Federal notes (Bobl) and Federal bonds (Bund) primarily with maturities of ten and 30 years. In 2020 Federal bonds with maturities of 7 and 15 years have been added. Since 2006, the Federal Government has also been issuing inflation-linked securities (ILB, consisting of Bobl/€i or Bund/€i) with maturities of five to 30 years. Furthermore, the first 10-year Green Federal bond has been issued in September 2020, further issuances of Green Federal securities in the classic maturity segments follow.
German Government securities are generally placed as single issues via auction. New issues with high volumes take place, particularly for conventional capital market securities. They are followed by several increases, finally totalling at approximately € 15 bn till more than € 20 bn. Such increases help ensure that there is a high level of liquidity for these securities on the secondary market itself and are also used by the Federal Government to ensure that futures contracts can be delivered on the highly liquid futures market, thereby confirming their important role on the equally liquid repo market.
Characteristics
All exchange-traded securities have fixed maturities with redemption on maturity at the full nominal value, as well as annual fixed interest payments.
The principal characteristics of the German Government securities market are its fixed maturities, and fixed rates of interest in the case of Schaetze, Bobls, Bunds and their green twins. Inflation-linked Bobls and Bunds also have a fixed (real) coupon. However, nominal interest amounts and repayments are in this case linked to a euro area inflation index. Bubills, in contrast, are issued in the form of discount paper. All German Government securities are issued in the form of debt register claims without paper certificates.
Other characteristics are their eligibility to serve as insurance reserve for trusts and as ECB-eligible assets. Redemption is in each case at par value, with no provision for premature redemption by the issuer through call options or drawings. Inflation-linked Federal securities are redeemed at the nominal value adjusted for inflation indexation. The smallest denomination is € 0.01 and interest is calculated on the basis of the customary methods of ICMA actual/365 or actual/366 for capital market securities and actual/360 for money market paper.
Proportions of outstanding volumes of Government bonds 2015 vs. 2020
Bubill = Treasury discount paper with maturity of 6 months
Bubill = Treasury discount paper with maturity of 12 months
Schatz = Federal Treasury note
Bobl = Federal note
Bund7 = 7-year Federal bond
Bund10 = 10-year Federal bond
Bund15 = 15-year Federal bond
Bund30 = 30-year Federal bond
Green = Green Federal note and 10-year Green Federal bond
ILB = inflation-linked Federal note or bond
The proportions of the individual securities making up the most part of the Federal Government debt have changed over the last five years particularly due to the significant expansion of the issuance volume in 2020. Money market paper gained in importance in the short term, and the 7-year and 15-year maturity segments have been established. With the exception of the 30-year Federal bond, the shares of classic capital market securities and inflation-linked securities declined. In 2020, the segment of Green Federal securities was added in the form of a ten-year Green Federal bond and a Green Gederal note.
Current Benchmark Issues of the Federal Government
Security | Maturity | Coupon | Outstanding | Last Issuance | ISIN |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conventional Securities | |||||
Schatz | 15.12.2022 | 0.00 % | 14.0 € bn | 05.01.2021 | DE0001104826 |
Bobl | 10.04.2026 | 0.00 % | 5.0 € bn | 13.01.2021 | DE0001141836 |
Bund10 | 15.02.2031 | 0.00 % | 5.0 € bn | 06.01.2021 | DE0001102531 |
Bund30 | 15.08.2050 | 0.00 % | 17.5 € bn | 11.11.2020 | DE0001102481 |
Green Securities | |||||
Bobl/g | 10.10.2025 | 0.00 % | 5.0 € bn | 04.11.2020 | DE0001030716 |
Bund/g10 | 15.08.2030 | 0.00 % | 6.5 € bn | 02.09.2020 | DE0001030708 |
Inflation-linked Securities | |||||
Bund/€i10 | 15.04.2026 | 0.10 % | 16.8 € bn | 01.09.2020 | DE0001030567 |
Bund/€i30 | 15.04.2046 | 0.10 % | 10.0 € bn | 12.01.2021 | DE0001030575 |
Daily terms, prices and yields of listed issues (PDF)
Overview of outstanding, tradeable German Government securities as of last auction (PDF)
Monthly itemised list of outstanding German Government securities (PDF)
Monthly itemised list of outstanding German Government securities (XLS)