SOMA (System Open Market Account) is the Federal Reserve’s portfolio of securities (Treasuries, MBS, foreign reserves) managed by the New York Fed to implement monetary policy. SOMA purchases are made in the secondary market (not at Treasury auctions) and therefore do not directly finance the federal government, but by absorbing Treasury securities they change private-sector supply/demand and can push prices/yields up or down. Because changes in SOMA holdings alter how much Treasury paper the private sector must absorb, Treasury monitors SOMA purchases when sizing auctions and may adjust issuance (e.g., coupon and FRN sizes) to reflect altered private demand and market liquidity.
The Treasury General Account (TGA) is the U.S. Treasury’s checking account at the Federal Reserve that holds the federal government’s cash balance. A peak near $1,025 billion matters because a very large TGA affects Treasury’s need to issue bills and notes (it temporarily reduces near-term borrowing needs), influences short-term money-market liquidity and bank reserves, and can change bill supply and yields — so markets and Treasury operations watch TGA size to time bill auctions and cash-management actions.
Cash management bills (CMBs) are short-dated Treasury securities issued irregularly to meet temporary or unexpected cash needs; they are similar to Treasury bills but scheduled outside the regular weekly bill calendar and tailored for intra-quarter cash management. Unlike regular (benchmark) bills, CMBs are used flexibly to smooth near-term cash flows and cover temporary financing gaps rather than to fund predictable, ongoing issuance needs.
“Off‑the‑run” describes previously issued Treasury securities that are not the most recently issued (“on‑the‑run”) benchmark for a given maturity. Off‑the‑run securities typically trade less frequently and can have slightly different liquidity and pricing. Treasury buys off‑the‑run securities in buyback operations to support market liquidity, reduce supply in specific maturities, and manage cash (as Treasury announced planned purchases of up to $38 billion in off‑the‑run securities for liquidity support).
FedTrade Plus is the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s upgraded trading platform for the Open Market Trading Desk that runs repo/reverse‑repo and other Desk operations; it replaces the older FedTrade system. Moving Treasury buyback operations to FedTrade Plus would change the execution venue and operational workflow (orders, confirmations, settlement interfaces and testing procedures) and could require counterparties to use the Desk’s new connectivity and protocols used on FedTrade Plus.
Direct buyback access would let a limited set of additional counterparties interact directly with Treasury buyback operations rather than only through primary dealers. Under the Treasury’s NPR, eligibility would be based on participation in Treasury auctions (and Treasury’s existing buyback FAQ outlines participation criteria); proposed expansion would likely include qualified auction participants and active market-makers that meet operational and regulatory standards — Treasury will decide final criteria after the comment period.