Training

Important! Collateral needs to be received at least five business days before an auction (T-5). Any collateral received after this point cannot be used towards the auction.

Acceptable forms of collateral are:

• Cash
• Letter of Credit

Collateral needs to be received before a Participant can bid in an auction. Your maximum bid is four times your eligible collateral (collateral held at T-5).

Example:

• A Participant's eligible collateral is $1,000,000.
• This Participant can bid up to $4,000,000.

Settlement is four business days after the auction (T+4). We will return your residual cash collateral as soon as reasonably practicable after the auction. Account Holder, Admin and Clearing users will receive an email notification when there is a change in the collateral held.

The minimum collateral to participate in an auction is:

• 500 (minimum NZU for one bid) times the price floor times 25% (the rate at which collateral is held).
• For 2021 this is $2,500, (500 x $20 x 25%).
• For the most current price floor settings please visit the Auction noticeboard.

Cash

Cash collateral needs to be received in the ETS Auction Collateral bank account five business days before an auction (T-5). This is a Crown bank account and only NZD will be accepted.

ETS Auction Collateral bank account:

Bank Account Name: ETS Auction Collateral Account
Bank account Number: 03-0049-0003202-021
Reference: Your EPA Registry account number

The Account Holder or Admin may instruct that cash collateral is used to pay the invoice in the Participant Details screen in ETS Auctions. Remember to update this well before the Auction as changes between Auction day to 5 business days after, may not be reflected.

Note: interbank transfers may take a few days. Please ensure you have allowed time for this.

Letters of Credit

You can use Letters of Credit as collateral. The Ministry for the Environment is the counterparty to this instrument.

This must be accepted by the Ministry for the Environment at least five business days before the auction.

It is recommended that participants wishing to lodge non-cash collateral advise the Ministry for the Environment of their intention to do so at least 15 working days before the scheduled date of the auction. This is to allow the advising bank for ETS auctions sufficient time to undertake verification checks on requests from prospective participants. Participants are also asked to avoid lodging non-cash collateral too close to the registration deadline to avoid the possibility of any processing delays.

In order to secure payment of, or performance of the obligation to pay, the negotiable instrument must be:

• Unconditional and irrevocable;
  • payable on demand to the Ministry for the Environment;
    Bank: Westpac
    Account number: 03-0049-0003202-022
    Bank’s SWIFT code: WPACNZ2W;
  • the negotiable instrument must be valid for at least 15 business days after auction date
  • issued by a person or organisation with a credit rating of no less than BBB+
  • must state 'that is must be presented on claiming payment'.
• If a letter of credit is provided on behalf of more than one registered bidder, it must specify the maximum amount of collateral value attributable to each registered bidder, totalling no more than the total collateral value of the letter of credit.
• The letter of credit will not be accepted in person or by post.
• The letter of credit must be in a form that meets the requirements of the regulations and, in particular, the definition of negotiable instrument in the Personal Properties Securities Act 1999 (being that the letter of credit states on it that it must be presented on claiming payment).

If you would like to lodge a letter of credit, please email your letter of credit to the Ministry directly at ETSGuaranteeFinance@mfe.govt.nz.

Collateral return

All residual cash collateral will be returned to your nominated bank account as soon as reasonably practicable after your invoice has been settled.

No Collateral withdrawals are allowed from five business days before the auction through to four business days after. If you wish your cash collateral to be returned before the auction, this must be requested at least five business days before the auction. Please contact us at (+64) 4 470 9768 or auctions@nzx.com