(a) General. (1) All bids must be submitted using an approved method, which depends on the system into which the awarded securities will be issued. (See § 356.4.) The approved submission methods for these respective systems are explained in this section. A bidder must provide its assigned bidder identification numbers if it has been assigned one. We have the option of accepting or rejecting incomplete bids.

(2) We must receive competitive and noncompetitive bids prior to their respective closing times, which are stated in the auction announcement. We will not include late bids in the auction. For bids other than those submitted on paper forms, our computer time stamp will establish the receipt time. You are bound by your bids after the closing time.

(3) We are not responsible for any delays, errors, or omissions. We are not responsible for any failures or disruptions of equipment or communications facilities used for participating in Treasury auctions.

(4) Submitters are responsible for bids submitted using computer equipment on their premises, whether or not such bids are authorized.

(b) Commercial book-entry system. (1) If you are a submitter and the awarded securities are to be issued in the commercial book-entry system, you must submit bids using one of our approved electronic methods except for contingency situations.

(2) You must have an agreement on file with us under which you agree to our terms and conditions for access to our system for participating in our auctions.

(3) In contingency situations, such as a power outage, we may accept bids by a telephone call to designated Treasury employees if you submit them prior to the relevant bidding deadline.

(c) Securities held directly with Treasury. You must submit your bids in accordance with the regulations governing the system in which the security will be held. You may reinvest the proceeds of a maturing security held directly with Treasury as permitted by the system in which it is held.