JP Morgan has become the first prime broker to accept credit derivatives (CDS) trades from a hedge fund manager via the T-Zero platform. Ilex Asset Management has submitted its first trades through T-Zero, using JP Morgan as its derivatives prime broker.
T-Zero offers connectivity to vendors and service providers such as DTCC Deriv/SERV, GlobeOp, Calypso and Thunderhead. T-Zero distributes its services through the Bloomberg PROFESSIONAL terminal.
“T-Zero’s trade capture and connectivity platform incorporates market leading affirmation workflow to ensure trade accuracy, and has a unique business model ensuring maximum leverage of the trade data downstream,” says Mark Beeston, President of T-Zero. “T-Zero’s Prime Brokerage service makes it very easy for clients to communicate trades in a very quick and standardised format.”
Stephanie Ercegovic, Global Head of Prime Brokerage at JP Morgan, says that the use of T-Zero’s Prime Brokerage platform “marks a continuation of the move towards hedge funds adopting a standardised approach to trading credit derivatives. T-Zero is a powerful platform for CDS Prime Brokerage, giving clients an easy tool for communication and confirming trades, while making the give-up process much easier and more standardised for the brokers with whom they deal.”
“T-Zero facilitates Prime Brokerage through its unique combination of market connectivity and affirmation technology that fully leverages all downstream channels,” adds Gareth Roblin of Ilex Asset Management. “We have worked closely with JPMorgan and T-Zero to ensure that T-Zero’s Prime Brokerage service reflects the needs and standards required by the market.”
T-Zero says it now has 80 buy-side firms on the service, and expects this to rise to more than 100 in the near future.