Desk Slang · Core
General Collateral
General collateral (GC) is repo against a basket of acceptable Treasuries (or other eligible bonds) rather than a specific CUSIP — the opposite of specials.
Definition
GC is the funding rate for ‘any eligible.’ Specials are specific issues that trade at a lower repo rate because someone needs that CUSIP to deliver or to cover. The GC–specials spread is a scarcity meter.
Why it matters
SOFR is built from Treasury repo, mostly GC-like. When GC blows out, funding stress is in the plumbing, not in the editorials.
Case
September 2019 GC/SOFR spike: reserves were scarce, dealer balance sheets were tight, and GC was not general anymore.
How to read it
Pair GC with reserve balances and bill supply. A specials story is a CUSIP story; a GC story is a system story.
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