Liquidnet launches DCM workflow for primary markets

Liquidnet has launched an offering providing an electronified Debt Capital Markets (DCM) workflow for new issue announcements alongside a new protocol for trading new issues.

Liquidnet Primary Markets’s DCM provides a dashboard of new issue announcements, also available to non-trading desk users, such as portfolio managers, analysts, and compliance teams, through a web-based portal. The DCM workflow is integrated into the existing Liquidnet Fixed Income trading application.

The New Issue Trading protocol enables Members to trade new issues in the European investment grade, high yield and emerging bond markets, and in the US, in emerging bond markets.

Mark Russell, Global Head of Fixed Income at Liquidnet, commented: “Liquidnet Primary Markets is an essential first step in realizing our ambition of becoming the first agency broker to achieve the end-to-end electronification of the life cycle of a bond. We have consulted extensively with major market participants to build a truly customized and electronic solution for new debt issuance.”

“With our DCM workflow and new issue trading offering, we are addressing the challenges of fragmented new issue dissemination and improving the format of new issue announcements. For our Members, this means access to primary and secondary markets through a single Liquidnet application and represents new trading opportunities in a fast moving and rapidly evolving market.”

Paul Tregidgo, Senior Advisor with Liquidnet, commented: “Our parsing technology is a critical part of the DCM workflow. It creates structured data out of the extensive deal messages received from syndicate banks. This will significantly accelerate the availability of new issue deal data into Order Management Systems and bring greater visibility on new issues to both the buy and sell side.”

The offering is complemented by the firm’s new Fixed Income member service model, which includes a dedicated Trade Coverage team providing specialized institutional expertise and insight designed to help Members seize trading opportunities.

Nicolas Breteau, CEO of TP ICAP, said: “Liquidnet Primary Markets brings something truly new, innovative, and valuable, to the bond market. Importantly, the creation of Liquidnet Primary Markets was market-led. In bringing our plans to life, we worked proactively and cooperatively with a wide range of buyside, sell-side, and other market participants, including data vendors and the OMS community. Liquidnet has long been known for innovation and best-in-class connectivity, and these are strengths that we will continue to build on as we further develop our Fixed Income offering.”

Liquidnet has taken measures to expand further across the globe with the recent appointments of Anthony Victor as Senior Execution Consultant in the Americas and Mark Cowper as Fixed Income Sales and Business Development at Liquidnet.

Anthony Victor joined Liquidnet’s Execution Consulting team from RBC Capital Markets, where he was Managing Director of Electronic Sales Trading.

The senior hire shows the firm continues to invest in its client service model in the region, designed to provide best-in-class execution consulting.

Victor will leverage the firm’s suite of trading analytics, quantitative models, and innovative algorithms to deliver tailored client solutions. Based in New York, he reports directly to Head of Execution and Quantitative Services, Americas, Mike Capelli.

His more than 20 years of experience in institutional equity trading, including single-stock cash, portfolio, and electronic, will prove valuable to Liquidnet as the firm intends to stay ahead in such a competitive industry.

Prior to RBC, he held a number of senior roles, including six years with Merrill Lynch as head of U.S. electronic sales trading, providing creative solutions for clients’ trading needs through his strong knowledge of global direct market access, algorithmic trading, block crossing networks, and smart order routing technology.