On 2 December 2019, the FICC Markets Standards Board (FMSB) issued a transparency draft of a new statement of good practice for participation in sovereign and supranational auctions (SSAs) in fixed income markets.

The draft statement is the tenth statement of good practice that the FMSB has published since it was set up in 2015 in response to the Fair and Effective Markets Review with a mandate to improve conduct and raise standards in the wholesale fixed income, currencies and commodities markets.

The draft statement applies to primary dealers, dealers and investors in the wholesale fixed income markets who participate in pre-announced multi-lateral auctions and reverse auctions conducted by issuers of government and supranational bonds in Europe (but subject to any applicable local regulatory restrictions).

The draft statement seeks to identify some of the key conflicts of interest that can arise, as well as setting out measures to enhance market transparency by providing clearly articulated information as to how SSAs work and identifying principles governing the management of conflicts that may arise.

The deadline for comments on the transparency draft is 27 January 2020.