Bond platform race heats up with ICAP entry

ICAP has become the latest firm to join the race to win volume from bond traders looking for new electronic solutions to the ongoing liquidity crisis.

ICAP has become the latest firm to join the race to win volume from bond traders looking for new electronic solutions to the ongoing liquidity crisis.

The interdealer broker has launched a new service called Scrapbook, which it described as an anonymous, session-based electronic solution for corporate bonds.

Scrapbook forms part of the interdealer broker’s BrokerTec multilateral trading facility and will leverage a strategic partnership with market data provider Interactive Data. The partnership will enable users to access Interactive Data Continuous Fixed Income Evaluated Prices, which combine human and automated to analysis to help users generate trade ideas and enhance price discovery.

Dean Berry, head of eCommerce at ICAP, said: “The corporate bond market has experienced reduced liquidity from a combination of increased regulatory controls and challenging market conditions. We believe that Scrapbook meets the changing needs of bond traders, offering an intuitive new solution that combines anonymity with leading technology, pricing and a regulated trade environment.”

Scrabook is accessible via ICAP’s web portal and features a customisable front-end.

A string of new fixed income trading platforms have launched in recent months, all bidding to help traders identify new sources of liquidity as banks reduce their fixed income inventory and begin trading on an agency, rather than principal basis.

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