Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, introduced an electronic platform for fixed income market participants.
Municipals will join corporate, Treasury, and agency bonds and certificates of deposit in the suite of products featured on the service, according to a press release last week. The service offers access to deep liquidity pools, multiple trading protocols, fixed income data and analytics, as well as anonymous and disclosed trading protocols, including click-to-trade, request-for-quote and portfolio auctions.
The endeavor will be a collaboration of ICE BondPoint, TMC Bonds and ICE Credit Trade under a single management team. The company said the new platform will build on the continuous and end-of-day fixed income pricing and analytics offered by ICE Data Services, which provides proprietary exchange data, valuations, analytics, and connectivity solutions across its exchanges.
“ICE has a long and exemplary track record of using advanced technology and innovation to bring more transparency and efficiency to opaque markets,” Ben Jackson, ICE president, said in the release. “As fixed income markets continue to evolve, bringing our execution platforms under a single structure and leadership team allows us to focus our efforts and provide our customers with a wide array of tools to accurately value bonds, find inventory, efficiently trade and manage risk.”
He appointed Marshall Nicholson, a fixed income veteran, to manage the business as president, overseeing new product development and sales.
Jackson said Nicholson “is a natural fit to lead this business” because of his background in fixed income markets.
With over 20 years of experience in the fixed income markets, Nicholson came to ICE after serving as president of Millennium Advisors, a technology-driven broker dealer. In addition, he was previously the managing director and president of BondPoint, a fixed income trading venue and marketplace for broker-dealers and buy-side institutions that was acquired by ICE in 2017.
Other staff appointments include Tom Vales, who will serve as chief operating officer. While reporting to Nicholson, Vales will remain in his role as head of TMC Bonds, the New York City-based fixed income Alternative Trading System (ATS) and a wholly owned subsidiary of ICE.
Nicholson said the collaboration is a win-win situation.
“By combining ICE’s existing execution platforms and leveraging the extensive pricing and analytics offered by ICE Data Services, we will offer customers unprecedented access to liquidity, trading protocols, and choice for executing their trades,” he said in the release.
For now, the three automated trading systems will continue to be operated by TMC Bonds L.L.C. and Creditex Securities Corporation.
However, later this year ICE plans to consolidate the trading systems under a single broker-dealer, subject to regulatory approval, according to the release.
ICE operates exchanges, clearing houses, and information services to invest, trade, and manage risk across global financial and commodity markets. ICE Data Services provides information and connectivity needs across multiple asset classes.
