The Secretary of the Treasury, under the authority of the Second Liberty Bond Act, as amended, offers to borrowers from the Rural Electrification Administration and Rural Telephone Bank, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 5 Percent Treasury Certificates of Indebtedness—R.E.A. Series. This offering will continue until terminated by the Secretary of the Treasury.

(a) General. The certificates of indebtedness will be issued in book-entry form on the books of the Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, Washington, DC 20226. They may not be transferred by sale, exchange, assignment or pledge, or otherwise.

(b) Terms and rates of interest. The certificates, bearing interest at the rate of 5 percent per annum, will be issued in multiples of $1,000 and will mature one year from issue date. Interest on the certificates will be computed on an annual basis and, unless redeemed prior to maturity, will be payable six months from issue date and at maturity. Interest may be paid to an owner by having the amount thereof credited by a Federal Reserve Bank or Branch, acting as fiscal agent of the United States, to the reserve account of a member bank servicing such owner and for the latter's account. Such action will be taken at the owner's option. If not exercised, payment of interest will be made by Treasury check.

The recipient of a 5 percent loan from the Rural Electrification Administration or Rural Telephone Bank may subscribe for certificates under this offering, up to the amount of the unexpended portion of the loan, by submitting a subscription, together with the remittance, to the Federal Reserve Bank or Branch of the district in which the subscriber is located. The subscription form must show the amount of certificates desired, and give the title of the designated official of the subscriber authorized to redeem them.

The issue date of a certificate shall be the date on which the subscription form, and funds in full payment therefor, are received by the office described in § 345.2. A confirmation of the issuance, in the form of a written advice, which shall specify the amount and describe the certificates by title and maturity date, shall be issued to the subscriber.

(a) At maturity. A certificate may not be called for redemption by the Secretary of the Treasury prior to maturity except when the amount of the unexpended portion of the loan from the Rural Electrification Administration or Rural Telephone Bank is less than the face amount of the certificate. Unless the Treasury has received from the owner, at least one week prior to the maturity date of a certificate, a written request for payment at maturity, it shall automatically redeem the same at maturity, and reinvest in the owner's name the principal amount in a new certificate having the same description in all material respects as the one redeemed. No such automatic reinvestment shall be made, however, in excess of the amount of the unexpended portion of the loan from the Rural Electrification Administration or the Rural Telephone Bank.

(b) Prior to maturity. A certificate may be redeemed prior to maturity at par and accrued interest at the owner's option on one week's notice in writing after one month from the issue date. A certificate issued upon reinvestment, as provided in paragraph (a) of this section, shall not be subject to the one-month holding period. A notice to redeem a certificate prior to its maturity date must be given by the official authorized to redeem it, as shown in the subscription for purchase, to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, Division of Securities Operations, Washington, DC 20226, by letter or wire.

The income derived from the certificates is subject to all taxes imposed under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. The certificates are subject to estate, inheritance, gift or other excise taxes, whether Federal or State, but are exempt from all taxation now or hereafter imposed on the principal or interest thereof by any State or any of the possessions of the United States, or by any local taxing authority.

(a) Regulations. Five Percent Treasury Certificates of Indebtedness—R.E.A. Series shall be subject to the general regulations with respect to United States securities, which are set forth in the Department of the Treasury Circular No. 300, current revision (31 CFR part 306), to the extent applicable. Copies of the circular may be obtained from the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC 20226, or a Federal Reserve Bank or Branch.

(b) Reservations. The Secretary of the Treasury reserves the right to reject any application for the purchase of certificates hereunder, in whole or in part, and to refuse to issue or permit to be issued any such certificates in any case or any class or classes of cases if he deems such action to be in the public interest, and his action in any such respect shall be final. The Secretary of the Treasury may also at any time, or from time to time, supplement or amend the terms of these regulations, or of any amendments or supplements thereto.