The London Stock Exchange Group’s MTS has launched an electronic unsecured money market trading platform, with the first trades already executed and settled between two Italian banks
Known as MTS Depo, the platform was developed in response to money market traders calling for access to more diverse forms of funding. It will allow clients to negotiate short-term borrowing and lending, as well as central limit order book and bilateral trading.
“MTS’s Repo markets have gone from strength to strength, with record volumes last year. However, our clients were keen to be able to deploy the same flexible technology solutions and gain efficiency in the unsecured money markets as well,” said Fabrizio Testa, CEO of MTS Markets.
“There was a clear demand from both our clients and the broader market for the same approach to be brought to the cash deposit market, and we have responded. MTS Depo now provides traders with access to a wide market of participants, flexible trading options and reliable post-trade services.”
The multilateral exchange system for European unsecured money market trading is accessible to dealers in the Eurozone, and is also available to all MTS Repo users. MTS is also building out the MTS Depo network and is onboarding a range of credit institutions, all of which are expected to be connected by the third quarter this year.
MTS added that moving unsecured money market trading, which is traditionally voice-driven and over the counter (OTC), onto its electronic platform also enables traders to reduce manual processing and generate efficiencies in a market more traditional voice driven This year, the European Central Bank estimated that €127 billion turnover of wholesale unsecured money markets was going through Europe a day.