State Bank of Pakistan

Government Securities Auction Portal State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) 

SBP, central bank authority of Pakistan, awards Sapphire Consulting Services (SCS) the Auction Portal project financed by World Bank under Pakistan Financial Inclusion & Infrastructure Project.

Business Objective

SBP conducts auctions of government securities including Market Treasury Bills (MTBs), Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs) and Government Ijara Sukuk (GIS) via Bloomberg Portal. Investors of government securities include Banks, other financial institutions, non-financial institutions and individuals. Small investor had limited access to information due to non-affordability of systems like Bloomberg and Reuters. Additionally, individuals and small investors couldn’t directly participate in the auction and had to go through Banks and other financial institutions via manual process of Non-Competitive Bids (NCBs). Furthermore, Banks desired to make the auction process more inclusive and automated for all.

Challenges

There was no tracking system in place to assist actual owners or investors of government securities in building their portfolios while simultaneously allowing State Bank of Pakistan to monitor them. Furthermore, the investor was unable to trade in secondary market with transparency. Due to sensitivity and secrecy of bids, the solution required added safety mechanisms to be in place.

Solution

Sapphire was tasked to replace Bloomberg Treasury Auction portal with custom developed portal and mobile app that allowed direct access to small investors and individuals to participate in the primary auction of Government securities. The solution comprised of Administrative Control Panel, Investor, Financial Institution and Information portals. A comprehensive Bid Placement module was developed that allowed for conducting auctions in a very transparent manner. An integrated Complaint Management System was also developed. Financial calculation tools were provided to determine different type of rates.

Business Outcomes

• Ease of doing business for financial institution in the process of auction of Government Securities.
• Small investors were provided direct access to the portal to participate in auction and get benefit from market information.
• Transparency during bidding process and opportunity to compare and research prices online for small and individual investors. 
• Performance monitoring of the end-to-end business activity.
• Simple and flexible communication channel between investors & SBP, and commercial banks & SBP.