Marketaxess Open Trading™ Sees Record Trading Volumes in Europe

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: MKTX), the operator of a leading electronic trading platform for fixed-income securities, and the provider of market data and post-trade services for the global fixed-income markets, today announces record trading volumes in Europe via its all-to-all Open Trading™ protocols during the first quarter of 2016.

Open Trading leverages MarketAxess’ global network of over 1,000 market participants, providing a unique trading experience that allows all market participants, including both buy- and sell-side institutions, to access deep global liquidity from one another.

Since launching Open Trading for European credit products in January 2015, MarketAxess has seen immediate acceptance as the demand for trading solutions to help manage credit market liquidity has expanded.  Global clients traded a record of $944 million of European credit products via Open Trading protocols in the first quarter of 2016, up 140% from the fourth quarter of 2015.  In addition, a record of $4.8 billion was traded by European clients via Open Trading protocols across European and U.S. credit products in the first quarter of 2016, up 73% sequentially from the fourth quarter of 2015.

Demonstrating the unique liquidity provided by Open Trading, a total of 22 dealers and over 200 unique European investor clients are active participants in European Open Trading, which complements MarketAxess’ global network of over 1,000 active investor and dealer firms.  Investor and dealer participants provided liquidity evenly in Open Trading for European products in the first quarter of 2016.

Gareth Coltman, Head of European Product Management, MarketAxess, said:  “In the last year, we have worked extensively with our European clients and dealers to ensure our all-to-all trading technology meets the demands of today’s credit markets.  Open Trading offers an efficient way for all market participants to not only tap into a global network of liquidity but also provide liquidity.  Market data from Trax provides the necessary content to help inform trading behavior and liquidity provision.”

In addition to advanced trading technology, the intelligent use of market data has also helped enhance the trading experience on MarketAxess.  Through its Trax® business, MarketAxess has integrated a number of market data tools into its trading platform to help participants thoughtfully approach the market. This includes the development of the first intra-day trade tape for the European fixed income markets, Axess All™, which launched in February 2015.   Based on available market information, Trax estimates it processes approximately 65% of all fixed income transactions in Europe as part of its post-trade service offering.  According to Trax, overall secondary credit[1] volume in Europe fell 6% in first quarter of 2016 compared to the first quarter 2015.

Scott Eaton, Chief Operating Officer, MarketAxess Europe and Trax, added: “European credit markets continue to be challenged.  Uncertainty surrounding regulatory change, the potential of the UK leaving the European Union, lower new issuance and reduced capacity of traditional dealer risk-based liquidity all has a cumulative impact on secondary market activity.  We are seeing increased demand among both investors and dealers for smarter and more efficient ways to approach the market.”

[1] “Credit” market data includes Corporate IG, Corporate HY, Corporate Other, Covered Bonds, Sovereigns, Supranationals and Municipalities as defined by the Trax database.

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: MKTX), the operator of a leading electronic trading platform for fixed-income securities, and the provider of market data and post-trade services for the global fixed-income markets, today announces record trading volumes in Europe via its all-to-all Open Trading™ protocols during the first quarter of 2016.

Open Trading leverages MarketAxess’ global network of over 1,000 market participants, providing a unique trading experience that allows all market participants, including both buy- and sell-side institutions, to access deep global liquidity from one another.

Since launching Open Trading for European credit products in January 2015, MarketAxess has seen immediate acceptance as the demand for trading solutions to help manage credit market liquidity has expanded.  Global clients traded a record of $944 million of European credit products via Open Trading protocols in the first quarter of 2016, up 140% from the fourth quarter of 2015.  In addition, a record of $4.8 billion was traded by European clients via Open Trading protocols across European and U.S. credit products in the first quarter of 2016, up 73% sequentially from the fourth quarter of 2015.

Demonstrating the unique liquidity provided by Open Trading, a total of 22 dealers and over 200 unique European investor clients are active participants in European Open Trading, which complements MarketAxess’ global network of over 1,000 active investor and dealer firms.  Investor and dealer participants provided liquidity evenly in Open Trading for European products in the first quarter of 2016.

Gareth Coltman, Head of European Product Management, MarketAxess, said:  “In the last year, we have worked extensively with our European clients and dealers to ensure our all-to-all trading technology meets the demands of today’s credit markets.  Open Trading offers an efficient way for all market participants to not only tap into a global network of liquidity but also provide liquidity.  Market data from Trax provides the necessary content to help inform trading behavior and liquidity provision.”

In addition to advanced trading technology, the intelligent use of market data has also helped enhance the trading experience on MarketAxess.  Through its Trax® business, MarketAxess has integrated a number of market data tools into its trading platform to help participants thoughtfully approach the market. This includes the development of the first intra-day trade tape for the European fixed income markets, Axess All™, which launched in February 2015.   Based on available market information, Trax estimates it processes approximately 65% of all fixed income transactions in Europe as part of its post-trade service offering.  According to Trax, overall secondary credit[1] volume in Europe fell 6% in first quarter of 2016 compared to the first quarter 2015.

Scott Eaton, Chief Operating Officer, MarketAxess Europe and Trax, added: “European credit markets continue to be challenged.  Uncertainty surrounding regulatory change, the potential of the UK leaving the European Union, lower new issuance and reduced capacity of traditional dealer risk-based liquidity all has a cumulative impact on secondary market activity.  We are seeing increased demand among both investors and dealers for smarter and more efficient ways to approach the market.”

[1] “Credit” market data includes Corporate IG, Corporate HY, Corporate Other, Covered Bonds, Sovereigns, Supranationals and Municipalities as defined by the Trax database.