In the United States, however, the Federal Reserve conducts market operations with so-called primary securities dealers, many of which are securities companies that do not have accounts at Federal Reserve BIS Review 15/1999  –6–  banks. A key point in considering this counterparty issue is whether the emphasis is on interbank transactions or open market transactions.
If a central bank primarily conducts interbank transactions, the counterparty will naturally be the banking sector. Yet it seems that the global trend is a growing preference by central banks for open market transactions.