Bloomberg and FMDQ OTC Plc have announced the launch of the Bloomberg E-Bond trading and market surveillance system, a new electronic trading system for Nigerian government bonds.
The trading system, which commenced operation on Monday under FMDQ’s over-the-counter (OTC) market securities exchange, seeks to add transparency, liquidity and efficiency to Nigeria’s growing fixed income market.
Jointly developed by Bloomberg, FMDQ and the local market-maker community, the Bloomberg E-Bond system provides electronic trading and market surveillance tools for participants in Nigeria’s N12 trillion ($73 billion) fixed income market.
“As a newly established OTC market securities exchange, our goal is to empower the Nigerian OTC financial markets to be efficient, credible and globally competitive,” Dipo Odeyemi, divisional head, operations and technology, FMDQ, said in a statement made available to BusinessDay.
“With its potential to drive transparency and liquidity, we believe the introduction of the Bloomberg E-Bond system will help us to achieve those aims and we are pleased to work with Bloomberg to bring it to the Nigerian fixed income market,” he added.
The Bloomberg E-Bond system provides a complete, consolidated marketplace for Nigerian government bonds, offering market participants a robust and flexible set of tools supporting the full trade workflow, the statement said.
It added that it includes pre-trade price discovery and analytical tools, the ability to handle both multi-dealer request-for-quote (RFQ) and order trading, straight-through processing (STP) functionality and integrated trade capture and reporting tools. In addition, market oversight entities and regulators can use the system to review market activity and audit transactions.
“A well-functioning debt market needs an efficient technical infrastructure, bespoke trading rules, market surveillance and straight-through processing,” said David Tamburelli, Bloomberg’s head of emerging markets product. “Bloomberg’s E-Bond system responds to those needs and we are delighted to collaborate with FMDQ to build a more transparent, liquid and efficient bond market in Nigeria.”
Femi Asu
