Electronic Trading: TBMA Taps TradeWeb to Standardize Programming for

TradeWeb, a developer and operator of fixed-income trading networks and a major player in the Treasury market, has been selected by The Bond Market Association to develop a protocols system that will standardize computer language used for electronic transactions in the fixed-income markets, TBMA announced Friday.

TradeWeb was selected from 10 companies that responded to a request for proposals issued by the association's Online Bond Steering Committee March 22.

TBMA also announced that Jordan & Jordan, a New York City-based management consulting firm that responded to the request for proposals, was selected to serve as a consultant and will oversee the scheduling of the project, measure its progress, do research, and communicate the results.

The development of a standardized computer language is considered crucial for the growth of electronic trading and for moving to a T+1 trading system, in which transactions are cleared and settle within a day after they occur.

The protocols system will allow firms to exchange transaction documents and data electronically and to communicate more easily. Such a system, for example, would allow dealers to easily hook up to four or five electronic trading platforms at once.

Joseph Sack, TBMA's senior vice president for membership and new markets development, said TradeWeb was selected to develop the common protocols system because the firm was able to show extensive experience in operating an online bond trading platform "that communicates on a real-time basis with multiple users under a standard set of rules. This was a key criterion in the selection process."

Once the common protocol is developed, Sack said TBMA will make the specifications available "to all platforms to promote expansion of electronic commerce in the bonds markets."