Powered by Lexis+®
Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related Glossary Terms

CASE STUDY

“What I spend on my yearly subscription, equals to a day's billable hours for me not to mention time efficiency and peace of mind.”

Jai Stern

Access all documents on Repo

Repo meaning

Published by a LexisNexis Tax expert
What does Repo mean?
Repo (repurchase agreement) describes a short-term securities financing transaction in which one party sells securities for cash and simultaneously agrees to repurchase equivalent securities at a future date for an agreed price. In substance it operates as a secured loan: the repo rate is the interest, and the sold securities serve as collateral. In UK and Irish practice, repos are typically documented under the Global Master Repurchase Agreement (GMRA). Key legal features are: (i) transfer of full legal and beneficial title to the buyer during the term; (ii) an obligation to return equivalent (not identical) securities at repurchase; (iii) margining and haircuts to manage market and credit risk; and (iv) close-out netting on default. Variants include classic repo, sell/buy-back and tri-party repo. “Repurchase transaction” is defined for regulatory purposes in the UK’s onshored SFTR and the EU SFTR (applicable in Ireland). Otherwise, “repo” is a market term used across banking, capital markets, insolvency and tax. Usage and legal effect are broadly consistent across England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland. Because title transfers, a repo is generally not a security interest and typically avoids creation, perfection and registration requirements; protections arise from the GMRA and financial collateral regulations.
Speed up all aspects of your legal work with tools that help you to work faster and smarter. Win cases, close deals and grow your business–all whilst saving time and reducing risk.

View the related News about Repo

NEWS
Banking and finance weekly: ECCTA measures, Takeover Code changes, Supreme Court shipping ruling, FCA transparency and consolidated tape, ring-fencing reforms, green loans and ESG disclosures, sanctions (14 November 2024)

In this issue: Sustainable finance and ESG weekly round-up Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 Lending Acquisition finance Shipping finance Real estate finance Sustainable finance Debt capital markets Derivatives Regulation for banking lawyers Sanctions Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Useful information Sustainable finance and ESG weekly round-up For a summary of this week’s Sustainable finance and ESG developments, see Sustainable finance and ESG weekly round-up—14 November 2024. Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (Commencement No 3) Regulations 2024 (SI 2024/1108): Provisions in ECCTA 2023 on civil recovery of cryptoassets in Scotland took effect on 7 November 2024, and measures introducing the UK-wide offence of failure to prevent fraud will commence on 1 September 2025. See: LNB News 07/11/2024 12. Unique Identifiers (Application of Company Law) Regulations 2024 (SI 2024/Draft): These draft Regulations would widen...

Read More Right Arrow
NEWS
UK, EU and international financial services regulation, supervision and enforcement update—banks, markets, funds, payments, insurance, consumer redress, cryptoassets and AI (2 April 2026)

In this issue: UK, EU and international regulators and bodies Prudential requirements Risk management and controls Operational resilience Financial crime and sanctions Complaints, compensation and claims management Investigations, enforcement and discipline Regulation of capital markets Sustainable finance and ESG Banks and mutuals Investment funds and asset management Consumer credit, mortgage and home finance Regulation of insurance Payment services and systems Fintech and cryptoassets Regulation of AI in FS Dates for your diary New and updated content Financial Services Enforcement Database Daily and weekly news alerts LexTalk®Financial Services: a Lexis®Nexis community UK, EU and international regulators and bodies ESAs publish spring 2026 joint risk update The three European Supervisory Authorities—the European Banking Authority, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority, and the European Securities and Markets Authority—have released their Joint Committee spring 2026 update examining risks and vulnerabilities across the EU financial system....

Read More Right Arrow
NEWS
UK, EU and international financial services update: supervision, resilience, AML/sanctions, enforcement, derivatives, ESG, banks, mortgages, insurance, payments and crypto—week ending 13 November 2025

In this issue: UK, EU and international regulators and bodies Prudential requirements Operational resilience Financial crime and sanctions Complaints, compensation and claims management Investigations, enforcement and discipline Regulation of derivatives Sustainable finance and ESG Banks and mutuals UK MiFID II Consumer credit, mortgage and home finance Regulation of insurance Payment services and systems Fintech and cryptoassets Dates for your diary Financial Services Enforcement Database New and updated content Daily and weekly news alerts Intraday news alerts LexTalk®Financial Services: a Lexis®Nexis community UK, EU and international regulators and bodies FSCS confirms unchanged levy for 2025/26 and provides early forecast for 2026/27 The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has issued its latest Outlook levy update for 2025/26, stating the levy will hold at £356m—as projected in May 2025—with no further levy anticipated for firms across the rest of this financial year. A preliminary view for...

Read More Right Arrow

View the related Practice Notes about Repo

PRACTICE NOTES
Practitioner's guide to repo and the English law GMRA: title transfer, recharacterisation, margining, defaults, close-out netting, clearing, and FCAR/SFTR compliance

What is repo? A repo, the market shorthand for a 'repurchase transaction', is an arrangement whereby one party (the seller) sells an asset to another (the buyer) with a simultaneous contractual undertaking that the seller will repurchase the asset from the buyer on a future date for a specified price agreed between both parties in advance. Any asset capable of being transferred from one person to another may, in principle, be the subject of a repo transaction. The assets most commonly used in repos are debt securities (bonds), equity securities (shares) and other financial assets, including loans and commodities. However, commodity repos can raise distinctive documentary, structural and legal issues, which are not addressed in this Practice Note. For guidance on commodity repos, see Practice Note: Commodity repo transactions and true sale considerations...

Read More Right Arrow
PRACTICE NOTES
Securities lending and repo (SFT) developments 2019–2026: regulatory, market and documentation timeline (SFTR, GMRA, GMSLA; BoE, FCA, ESMA, ICMA, ISLA)

Timeline This timeline monitors the principal developments and news items connected to securities lending transactions and repos. For details on the rules on reporting and transparency for securities financing transactions (Regulation (EU) 2015/2365), see: Securities Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR)—essentials...

Read More Right Arrow
PRACTICE NOTES
UK occupational pension scheme trustees: drafting and negotiating discretionary investment management agreements: key regulatory and commercial issues

The management of assets belonging to another person on a discretionary basis is a 'regulated activity' overseen by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). As a general position, trustees of occupational pension schemes (Trustees) are not typically authorised by the FCA, or under applicable legislation, to manage most categories of scheme assets. Consequently, Trustees must pass day-to-day investment decisions to an FCA-authorised party to implement investments on their behalf. A frequent approach is to appoint an investment manager (the Manager), which constitutes a delegation of their core investment responsibilities. When a Manager is engaged under a discretionary investment management agreement (an IMA), the Trustees confer their discretionary investment powers. The scheme employer may also join the IMA to meet requirements connected to recovering VAT—see Practice Note: VAT and pension scheme costs. In contrast to investment advisory mandates or non-discretionary management arrangements, the Manager is empowered to execute transactions for the Trustees. Accordingly, it is vitally important that the Trustees are clear about the scope...

Read More Right Arrow