Staff Reports
Liquidity and Trading Dynamics in the Off-the-Run U.S. Treasury Market
Number 1170
November 2025

JEL classification: G12, G18, G20

Authors: Alain Chaboud, Ellen Correia Golay, Michael J. Fleming, Yesol Huh, Frank M. Keane, and Or Shachar

In this article, we study trading activity and liquidity of off-the-run U.S. Treasury securities. Off-the-run Treasuries are seasoned securities, account for about 98 percent of all Treasuries outstanding, and played a central role in the pandemic-fueled dash-for-cash in March 2020. Understanding these securities better can improve thinking around how market resilience might be improved. We document and discuss the evolution of trading activity and liquidity for these securities and how these attributes differ from on-the-run securities. We also consider several potential market structure changes that could improve the liquidity of off-the-run Treasuries, including debt buybacks, expanded central clearing, and increased data transparency.

Full Article
Author Disclosure Statement(s)
Alain Chaboud
The author declares that he has no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this paper. Prior to circulation, this paper was reviewed in accordance with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York review policy, available at https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/index.html. Use of TRACE data was subject to review by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Inter-Agency Working Group for Treasury Market Surveillance (members of which include the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission).

Ellen Correia Golay
The author declares that she has no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this paper. Prior to circulation, this paper was reviewed in accordance with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York review policy, available at https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/index.html. Use of TRACE data was subject to review by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Inter-Agency Working Group for Treasury Market Surveillance (members of which include the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission).

Michael Fleming
The author declares that he has no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this paper. Prior to circulation, this paper was reviewed in accordance with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York review policy, available at https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/index.html. Use of TRACE data was subject to review by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Inter-Agency Working Group for Treasury Market Surveillance (members of which include the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission).

Yesol Huh
The author declares that she has no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this paper. Prior to circulation, this paper was reviewed in accordance with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York review policy, available at https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/index.html. Use of TRACE data was subject to review by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Inter-Agency Working Group for Treasury Market Surveillance (members of which include the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission).

Frank Keane
The author declares that he has no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this paper. Prior to circulation, this paper was reviewed in accordance with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York review policy, available at https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/index.html. Use of TRACE data was subject to review by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Inter-Agency Working Group for Treasury Market Surveillance (members of which include the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission).

Or Shachar
The author declares that she has no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this paper. Prior to circulation, this paper was reviewed in accordance with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York review policy, available at https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/index.html. Use of TRACE data was subject to review by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Inter-Agency Working Group for Treasury Market Surveillance (members of which include the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission).
Suggested Citation:
Chaboud, Alain, Ellen Correia Golay, Michael Fleming, Yesol Huh, Frank Keane, and Or Shachar. 2025. “Liquidity and Trading Dynamics in the Off-the-Run U.S. Treasury Market.” Federal Reserve Bank of New York Staff Reports, no. 1170, November. https://doi.org/10.59576/sr.1170

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