Fixed Income

Agency broker ITG has acquired Paris-headquartered RFQ-Hub, a platform for trading OTC products including equities, futures, options and swaps.

BNY Mellon has been assigned responsibility for the US Treasuries’ European market infrastructure regulation compliant clearing and custody services within Nasdaq OMX Group’s new European clearing business.

Investment bank fixed income revenues have fallen by less than expected in the second quarter of 2014, with a shift towards more liquid products helping to improve their profitability.

Japan Exchange Group has signed a memorandum of understanding with Bank of China Limited, outlining intentions to develop a Renminbi-denominated financial instruments market in Japan.

Daiwa Capital markets has appointed Christopher Brown and Antony Baldwin, alongside Tatsuji Nagano, as head of investment banking and joint-heads of fixed income respectively.

Deutsche Börse’s fixed income trading platform, Eurex Bonds, has appointed Gloria Pfaue and Andreas Heuer as managing directors.

Increasing connectivity to trading platforms is the most urgent priority facing the buy-side over the next 12 months with regards to fixed income trading, according to theTRADEnews.com’s June poll.

A joint industry initiative to respond to MiFID II should draw lessons from the US to ensure technical rules are drafted and implemented effectively.

The US Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee 18 June announcement, which marked the midpoint of the US central bank’s quantitative easing tapering plan, left the Treasuries and agency mortgage-backed securities markets non-plused.

There are no short cuts to finding the balance between transparency and liquidity in the fixed income markets, but at least there is road-tested approach from the US that might show the way.