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OCC allows banks to use debt securities in repo agreements

June 20, 2025

On June 12, the OCC issued Interpretive Letter 1185 confirming that national banks may use certain debt securities as collateral in repurchase (repo) agreements. In the letter, the OCC responded to a December 19, 2024, inquiry regarding whether customer-driven derivative transactions could be used as collateral for tri-party repos. The OCC stated that under the proposal, banks would act as borrowers in the repo transaction, selling collateral securities to a repo counterparty with an agreement to repurchase the securities at a predetermined time and price, and clarified that the use of equity securities in such repo transactions is not consistent with the OCC’s derivatives regulation.