Tradeweb links repo and interest rate swap platforms to enhance institutional decision making

New features make Tradeweb the first electronic trading platform to make overnight index swap curves available during the repo trade negotiation process.

Tradeweb Markets has launched new features bridging the firm’s repurchase agreements (repo) and interest rate swap (IRS) product offerings to bolster clients’ execution workflows in these markets.

Nicola Danese

Higher money market volatility as a result of revised expectations of central bank policy actions has led traders to increasingly reference spreads to overnight index swap (OIC) curves when evaluating pricing of fixed-rate repos.

Tradeweb claims to be the first electronic trading platform to make OIS curves available during the repo trade negotiation process, which will enable institutional clients to better assess the price competitiveness of different repo rates across different currencies and maturities.

“By linking our repo and swaps platforms, we are transforming what used to be manual, disconnected and time-consuming processes into efficient, time- and cost-effective digital workflows,” said Nicola Danese, co-head of international developed markets at Tradeweb. 

The OIS spreads are generated for all GBP, EUR and USD trades on Tradeweb’s repo platform, which will reflect the exact term of each repo trade, leveraging off swap curves on the IRS platform.

Following the execution of a long-dated fixed-rate repo transaction on Tradeweb, buy-side traders will also be able to manage their interest rate exposure in a fully electronic workflow, essentially helping to achieve straight-through processing alongside reducing operational risk.

Trades are able to pre-populate a corresponding OIS ticket with the details of their completed repo trade, including start and end date, direction and cash amount, and send a request-for-quote enquiry to liquidity providers on Tradeweb’s IRS platform.

“In today’s active rates environment, Tradeweb provides us with essential information for executing a fixed-rate repo transaction,” said Nick Sheffield, portfolio manager in the Money Markets team at Insight Investment.

“We seek out technology that can help enhance investment outcomes for clients and welcome innovations that support speed of decision-making and execution processes.”

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