Every file on the Board rests on published material: filings, court records, procurement notices, audited accounts, official statements, trade and settlement data, and the coverage that has already reported on them. Each file cites what it rests on, so nothing here has to be taken on trust.
What a tag asserts
A tag is our reading of that record, measured against one question: did the deal reach the people it was meant to reach? Usually that is the domestic saver, the taxpayer behind the guarantee, the household the tender was for. They carry the cost and have least say in the terms.
A tag is not something the documents state on their own. We publish what each file rests on so a reader can disagree with it.
Friend is for conduct that leaves more of the gain with those people, or makes it possible to check whether it got there: terms published, losing bidders told why they lost, obligations that appear in the figures.
Foe is for conduct that moves the gain away from them, or hides whether it moved, where there was a choice.
Mixed is a record with acts on both sides and neither settling it. The file has to show both.
Benefits is for a position that pays whichever way the market moves, which is a different thing from helping or harming it.
Listed means a file is open and we have reached no view.
The tag describes acts. It ranks nothing, and it says nothing about anyone's character.
When a tag changes
When the record moves: a new filing, a corrected figure, a court outcome, a change in what the party does. Every change is dated on the file and nothing is taken out of its history, so a file that has moved from Foe to Friend shows both and what moved it.
A tag does not move because of pressure or a commercial relationship.
Corrections and replies
Corrections are published on the page they correct, dated, and are listed in full on the corrections page.
If you are named on this site and something here is wrong, write to us. Say which page, which sentence, and what the document says. A reply from a named party is published on the page it concerns, dated, in the words it was sent in.