Electronic bonds platform nears completion

http://www.thetradenews.com/news/Regions/Europe/Electronic_bonds_platform_nears_completion.aspx

Electronic bonds platform nears completion

An industry initiative to create an electronic bond trading platform led by Deutsche Bank and supported by key buy and sell-side firms may take shape as early as October, the executive behind the plan has said.

Dominic Holland, director of credit and e-commerce sales at Deutsche Bank, said the platform has continued to gain support from tier one and two banks in the US and Europe, alongside keen interest from asset managers. Holland ruled out a 2013 launch, but said final details of the platform could emerge by October.

“Discussions around the platform are continuing to advance and recently have focused on the governance and protocols that will underpin its functionality,” Holland told theTRADEnews.com. He confirmed the platform would begin in Europe, but will aim to become a global fixed income trading platform.

“We have support from tier one banks and asset managers who both see great value in the hub-and-spoke model we anticipate the platform will have, which will involve IOIs being sent to a central matching engine,” he said.

“We believe this model will suit trading in the less liquid fixed income instruments and also large trades in highly liquid bonds.”

The choice of an order book to execute trades was driven in part by concerns that information leakage had restricted the willingness of asset managers to trade fixed income products. Currently, buy-side firms typically call a number of brokers to request a quote in the bonds they want to trade, increasing the risk of market impact.

In March, the initiative had gained the backing of 10 brokers, including some of the largest investment banks, in addition to more than 10 large asset managers. Holland said on-going conversations with buy-side firms were “very positive”, and all were keen to keep abreast of developments.

The initiative was sparked by Basel III rules that will force banks to hold greater capital to support their bond inventories and therefore reduce the ability to trade on principal for buy-side clients.

“As Basel III requirements take hold in Europe and US firms ready themselves for implementation, we have seen renewed interest from sell-side counterparts in Q2 to create an industry-wide platform to facilitate the expected shift from single-dealer platforms,” Holland said.

In July, the US Federal Reserve approved the Basel III rules that were formed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Holland added that this had prompted greater interest from US banks looking for a multi-dealer trading platform for fixed income instruments.

OpenGamma upgrades platform

The enhanced platform offers advanced stress testing capabilities, performance improvements, and extended asset-class functionality across listed products and credit derivatives.

via Pocket http://www.finextra.com/News/Announcement.aspx?pressreleaseid=50757&topic=wholesale July 16, 2013 at 10:19PM

Knight-Getco outlines European bond blueprint as KGC Holdings

Knight-Getco outlines European bond blueprint

http://www.efinancialnews.com/story/2013-07-02/knight-getco-kcg-lays-out-european-blueprint?omref=email_TradingTechnology

One of the most senior European executives at the new trading company formed by the merger of Getco and Knight Capital has said the group is aiming to play an “important and strong” role in fixed-income markets, as they undergo an equity-like transformation.

The two firms today formally began operations under a new listed company called KCG Holdings, which in one sweep has become one of the world’s largest broking and electronic marketmaking firms.

Albert Maasland, formerly head of Knight Capital’s international business, and now KCG’s London-based global head of execution services and venues, said the combined group had bold plans for Knight’s Bondpoint platform.

Speaking to Financial News, Maasland said: “We expect to play an important and strong role in the electronification of fixed-income markets. Bondpoint has strong penetration in the US, and we’re already seeing customers, private banks and retail brokers use the platform here.”

Fixed-income instruments are less liquid than equities, so investment banks have traditionally taken these securities being sold in the market onto their books until they could find a buyer. However, regulatory pressure has made it prohibitively costly for them to fulfil this role, while the G20’s reform agenda is promoting greater electronic trading and central clearing.

 

According to the latest New York Federal Reserve data, dealer holdings of corporate bonds have shrunk to a fraction of their previous size over the past five years. That has led to concerns of liquidity crunch, resulting in several banks and asset managers, such as Goldman Sachs, BlackRock and Detusche Bank, attempting to build electronic bond platforms. While many of these ventures have struggled to build liquidity, Maasland said that KCG’s independent status was a factor that could work in its favour.

He said: “I think we’re going to see a pulling together of a number of platforms in the fixed-income space, and we want to play a strong part in that process.”

The comments come a day after Getco ̶ a high-frequency trading and electronic marketmaking firm based in Chicago ̶ and New Jersey-based broker Knight closed a $1.8bn merger deal. The deal was first struck in December, about five months after Knight suffered a $461m loss as the result of a trading error, with Getco one of five firms that came to the broker’s rescue.

Maasland is one of KCG’s 12-person global management team and reports to Daniel Coleman, Getco’s former chief executive who will take up that role at KCG.

 

As well as the group’s voice-driven institutional trading businesses, Maasland will oversee Bondpoint, its FX platform Hotspot, the KnightMatch equities platform, and Getco’s equities venues in the US and Europe, GetMatched.

Despite speculation that some of these platforms would be sold off, Maasland said “we like these businesses, they make sense, and they support our premise of helping firms to access liquidity efficiently across asset classes and across geographies”.

The new group will have just under 200 people working in Europe, Maasland said. He declined to comment on cost-cutting plans. In previous regulatory filings in the US KCG said it expects that combining electronic trading systems will save it up to $110m over three years.

Following a difficult first quarter for both companies – Knight reported a $9.4m loss, while Getco lost $9.3m – Maasland was optimistic for the year ahead.

 

He said: “It is a really, really tough market at the moment and there is excess capacity. But we bring a unique proposition created by two specialist firms: Knight’s client-centred approach and Getco’s technological expertise. Clients will get best of both worlds”.

Javelin OTC Derivatives Establishes Presence in Telx’s Chicago Data Center

Javelin OTC Derivatives Establishes Presence in Telx’s Chicago Data Center

http://low-latency.com/article/javelin-otc-derivatives-establishes-presence-telxs-chicago-data-center/?utm_source=weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ll_13-06-20

Telx, a leading provider of global interconnectivity, cloud enablement services and datacenter solutions, today announced at SIFMA Tech 2013 that Javelin Capital Markets, an OTC derivatives execution platform, has leveraged Telx’s network & interconnection rich Cloud Connection Center, “CHI1” at 350 East Cermak Road, Chicago, Illinois, providing Javelin with access to Telx’s extensive Financial Services community. As a colocation and interconnection client in Telx’s strategically located data center in downtown Chicago, Javelin can now offer Telx’s financial community high-performance connectivity to derivatives execution platforms for Interest Rate Swaps and Credit Default Swaps. Javelin offers both anonymous electronic and voice-hybrid methodologies for trade execution.

Newly formed Swaps Execution Facilities (SEFs), that have emerged as aspects of Dodd-Frank become implemented, are incorporating their services in secure data center environments. Low-latency connectivity is a critical component for the OTC Derivatives market linking SEFs and Central Counterparty Clearing (CCPs). With CCPs being located in Chicago, the proximity of Telx’s CHI1 facility at 350 East Cermak provides financial customers with high-performance and flexible connectivity to Javelin as well as to other SEF engines from a single location.

“As aspects of Dodd-Frank become cemented in the financial community, the need to establish SEFs in secure environments is a crucial step for our eventual classification as a Swap Exchange Facility,” said Michael Black, MD of Infrastructure of Javelin. “Telx’s ability to provide us with access in their premier Chicago facility, and their proximity to the clearing venues, swaps execution facilities, and buy-side participants put us in a strong market-leading position to service current and future clients.”

“We are excited to have Javelin join the expanding Telx financial ecosystem in our CHI1 facility. Javelin’s secure exchange platform with a state of the art user interface is well positioned in the rapidly changing OTC Derivatives market,” said Shawn Kaplan, general manager of Financial Services for Telx. “In recent months we have seen an increasing number of trading systems turn to Telx and our CHI1 facility, most recently with the announcement of Sky Road joining Telx’s financial community. Javelin and other industry leading financial institutions at 350 East Cermak benefit by connecting with other financial institutions in the facility, which allows them to offer their full suite of services with flexible connectivity to current and future clients.”

Telx’s CHI1 facility, located in the South Loop of the Chicago Central Business District, provides customers with the financial eco-system at 350 Cermak, one of the leading financial eco-systems in the world. As the operators of the “Meet-Me-Room,” and one of the largest colocation providers at the CHI1 facility at 350 Cermak, Telx provides industry leading data center and connectivity services for the global financial community.

Attendees at SIFMA Tech 2013 in New York City can register to attend Telx’s grand opening event of its new flagship data center, NJR3 in Clifton, New Jersey on June 19, 2013 from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Round-trip transportation will be provided by Telx for all registered guests. The event will feature a keynote address by NFL Legend Phil Simms, along with public remarks Clifton Mayor James Anzaldi, State Senator Nia Gill, and Telx’s Executive Vice President of Engineering and Construction Michael Terlizzi. Cocktails and refreshments will be served, and tours of the new data center will be given.

 

MTS launches interest rate swaps trading platform

MTS launches interest rate swaps trading platform

http://www.atmonitor.co.uk/news/newsview.aspx?title=mts-launches-interest-rate-swaps-trading-platform

MTS launches interest rate swaps trading platform

Published on   Jun 17, 2013

MTS, the European fixed income trading venue, is set to launch MTS Swaps. Expected to go live in Q4 2013 the new platform will give buy-side institutions the ability to trade interest rate swaps electronically.

A number of banks including BNP Paribas; Commerzbank AG, Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank; HSBC; Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking; Societe Generale Corporate and Investment Banking; and UBS AG have signed MoUs indicating their intention to support the platform from launch.

MTS Swaps will support the full trade lifecycle from pre-trade price discovery and execution to post-trade reporting and connectivity to clearing. The platform will support interest rate swap trading via request for competitive quote (RFCQ) and executable prices.

MTS Swaps will be an FCA regulated market managed by EuroMTS Limited.

Jack Jeffery, CEO of MTS, comments: “While electronic trading and central counterparty clearing are transforming the wider OTC derivatives landscape, our aim is to evolve trading in fixed income swaps in-line with these developments through the combination of innovative, appropriate technology and our proven expertise in operating electronic markets. Launching trading for interest rate swaps is the start of this evolution, enabling us to build a community of banks and buy-side institutions that will benefit from the further exciting developments.”

Akikur Rahman, Vice President, eRates Product Manager, Commerzbank AG, comments: “The balance between stability and innovation is a crucial consideration when developing the technology to facilitate trading in today’s changing fixed income markets. MTS has a proven track record in this space, and this new platform looks set to become a significant part of the swaps market infrastructure.”

Thomas Spitz, Global Head of Credit and Rates, at Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank commented: “Regulatory change is having a major impact on the Interest Rate Derivatives market and accelerating the trend towards electronic execution. At Credit Agricole CIB we are always looking for ways to service our clients better and this includes helping them navigate the impact of these changes. Built around clearing and transparency of pricing, MTS Swaps is specifically designed to take account of these regulatory challenges and to capitalise on the opportunities they present. Through our partnership with MTS, we are delighted to be contributing to the evolution of a trading venue that will provide significant benefits to our clients.”

Pasquale Cataldi, Managing Director, Head of European Rates at HSBC, comments: “With the industry widely expecting to be required to trade certain clearing-eligible swaps on multilateral regulated platforms, MTS Swaps will enable us to continue to improve transparency ahead of any regulatory announcements and significantly enhance the level of service we offer our clients in the fixed income space.”

Rob Hale, Managing Director, Head of GBP Swaps, Rates Trading at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, comments: “As the regulatory environment for derivatives continues to evolve, forward-thinking banks are making provisions for the upcoming changes and adapting their business models. MTS Swaps will enable us to enhance customer loyalty and facilitate increased levels of electronic trading with buy-side clients.”

Amaury D’Orsay, Global Head of Rates Trading at Societe Generale Corporate and Investment Banking, comments: “Optimising customer service in the fixed income space has become a key focus in recent years, as clients look for differentiating factors in an increasingly cost-sensitive environment. MTS Swaps will allow us to open up a whole new electronic market to our clients.”

Paul Hamil, Managing Director Fixed Income Trading at UBS, comments: “Regulation continues to push the fixed income markets towards more centralised, transparent, electronic market models. MTS Swaps will provide its participants with access to liquidity, certainty of execution and full STP to clearing, ensuring that they can continue to trade as the regulatory landscape evolves.”

Tradition Launches New Volatility Futures Platform – Streamlined Negotiation Of CME Group Futures With Variance Pay-Off

Tradition, one of the world’s largest interdealer brokers in over-the-counter commodity and financial products, has today announced the launch of Volatis, a new hybrid platform designed to facilitate the negotiation, and subsequent trading of, realised volatility futures with a variance pay-off l

via Pocket http://www.mondovisione.com/media-and-resources/news/tradition-launches-new-volatility-futures-platform-streamlined-negotiation-of/ June 10, 2013 at 07:00PM

Beacon Consulting Group Announces Data as a Service (DaaS) Offering

Beacon Consulting Group is pleased to announce the introduction of Beacon Integrated Data Services (IDS).

via Pocket http://www.bobsguide.com//guide/news/2013/Jun/3/beacon-consulting-group-announces-data-as-a-service-daas-offering.html June 04, 2013 at 06:53PM

Nasdaq Dubai initiates Islamic bonds trading platform

Nasdaq Dubai initiates Islamic bonds trading platform

Published on   May 28, 2013

http://www.atmonitor.co.uk/news/newsview.aspx?title=nasdaq-dubai-initiates-islamic-bonds-trading-platform

NASDAQ Dubai, the Middle East’s international financial exchange, is preparing to open a platform on which investors can trade Sukuk (Islamic bonds) and conventional bonds.

Trades will be automatically and exclusively routed for settlement at Euroclear Bank. The tradable securities will initially comprise at least 12 Sukuk and bonds that are listed on the exchange, with a nominal value of 10.9 billion dollars.

The platform will be available to institutional and high-net worth investors and will be opened and gradually developed in coming weeks.

Essa Kazim, Chairman of Borse Dubai, the holding company for Dubai’s stock exchanges, said: “The new platform is a natural extension of Dubai’s existing role as a centre for Sukuk and bond issuance and listing. NASDAQ Dubai will offer an efficient trading venue to participants from the region and around the world, providing fresh impetus to the growth of the capital markets in the UAE and the region.”

Tim Howell, Chief Executive Officer of Euroclear, commented: “Euroclear Bank’s proven post-trade infrastructure will complement NASDAQ Dubai’s new platform, helping issuers gain access to the largest and most diverse community of global trading counterparties. Our commitment to Dubai and the Middle East region will be strengthened further by this new relationship with NASDAQ Dubai.”

Hamed Ali, Acting Chief Executive of NASDAQ Dubai, said: “The opening of the platform will be an important step in Dubai’s growth as a global leader in innovation in the Sukuk and bond sectors. We look forward to creating further depth in the fixed income market and will collaborate with investors and other participants to steadily develop and enhance the platform.”

The platform will open with links to leading UAE and international financial services institutions, creating a first class trading and settlement infrastructure.

For the first time, prices of NASDAQ Dubai-listed Sukuk and bonds will be visible to all investors simultaneously on the same screen-based system, through the exchange. This will increase transparency and efficiency in the secondary market as well as promoting liquidity.

Curreently the Sukuk and bonds are tradable through banks offering investors different trading structures and different prices (known as ‘over the counter’ trading).

The NASDAQ Dubai platform will expand investor choice and aims to bring new participants into the market. A number of NASDAQ Dubai Members have already signed up to the new platform in order to offer Sukuk and bond trading to their clients and other Members are preparing to do so.

Red-hot ethanol RINs move toward mainstream with futures

* Electronic platform for RINs in the works * Ethanol RIN market estimated $9 bln value * Market volatility spurs fears of fraud KANSAS CITY, May 10 (Reuters) – A little more light is about to fall on the murky, sometimes messy market for renewable-fuel credits, with the launch

via Pocket http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/10/ethanol-credits-trading-idUSL2N0DQ23I20130510 May 18, 2013 at 04:00PM

Migration Of SPECTRA To M1 Data Center

As part of technology infrastructure development strategy, the Moscow Exchange has planned to migrate SPECTRA platform to the M1 data center (125 Varshavskoe shosse, Moscow) which plays the role of the main Moscow Exchange data center. The migration should be completed by Q3 2013.

via Pocket http://www.mondovisione.com/media-and-resources/news/migration-of-spectra-to-m1-data-center/ May 15, 2013 at 07:29PM