MarketAxess, the electronic trading platform for US and European high-grade corporate and emerging markets bonds, says DZ Bank has become a participating dealer on its European platform. In addition, FTN Financial – a division of First Horizon National Corp – has replaced Spear, Leeds & Kellogg on its US high-grade platform, following FTN’s recent acquisition of Spear, Leeds & Kellogg’s fixed income business.
The addition of DZ Bank brings the total number of dealers participating on the MarketAxess global platform to 22.
With the addition of DZ Bank, MarketAxess now provides institutional investor clients with a central pool of liquidity from 18 global dealers on the European high-grade platform. Since it began operating in the European marketplace in August 2001, MarketAxess has increased trading volume US$59.6 billion in the first nine months of 2004, compared to US$19.4 billion in the comparable period in 2003. There are currently more than 160 institutional investor firms active on the European system. Current dealers on the European high-grade platform include ABN AMRO, Banc of America Securities, Barclays PLC, Bear Stearns, BNP Paribas, Citigroup Global Markets, Credit Suisse First Boston, Deutsche Bank Securities, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, J.P. Morgan Chase, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, The Royal Bank of Scotland, SG Corporate & Investment Banking, and UBS.
“We are pleased to begin 2005 with the addition of DZ Bank to our European Platform, reinforcing our position as a leader in electronic fixed income trading,” says Iain Baillie, head of MarketAxess European operations. “At MarketAxess, our focus continues to be on providing our clients with an innovative platform that offers liquidity, transparency and efficiency in the global bond markets.”
The MarketAxess U.S. high-grade platform currently has 18 dealers providing liquidity, and more than 340 institutional investor firms actively participating. Trading volume on the U.S. platform totaled US$134.1 billion in the first nine months of 2004, as compared to US$96.2 billion in the same period in 2003. Participating dealers on the U.S. high-grade system now include ABN AMRO, Banc of America Securities, Barclays PLC, Bear Stearns, BNP Paribas, Citigroup Global Markets, Credit Suisse First Boston, Deutsche Bank Securities, FTN Financial, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, J.P. Morgan Chase, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, RBS Greenwich Capital, UBS and Wachovia Securities.