• MTS and Marco Polo collaborate to benefit fixed income market participants in frontier and emerging markets
  • Referral agreement designed to extend MTS US corporate bond electronic trading capabilities more broadly to non-US investors
  • Highlights growing global interest in all-to-all electronic bond trading model

New York, May 9, 2019 – MTS Markets International (MMI), part of London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), and Marco Polo Securities have recently entered into a marketing agreement in relation to its US trading platform, MTS BondsPro.* As part of the agreement, Marco Polo will introduce the MTS BondsPro corporate bond electronic trading platform to its extensive list of institutional clients in frontier and emerging markets covering nearly 20 countries across Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Eligible investors in these markets will benefit from the ability to trade with the vast network of institutional counterparties on the MTS BondsPro network, a community of more than 400 broker-dealers and buy-side clients on an anonymous all-to-all order book. The platform offers a 22-hour trading day allowing trading in different time zones across the US, Europe and Asia, providing traders access to over 20,000 corporate bonds with live prices daily. MTS BondsPro continues to see record and growing interest, with 43% growth in trading volume for 2019 to date following 65% growth in 2018.

David Parker, Head of MTS Markets International:
“We are delighted to offer our high-quality corporate bond market to a broader set of frontier and emerging market investors via Marco Polo. This is an important step to support diversity of interest in the US corporate bond market, a sign of growing global electronic volumes and a reflection of the increasing appeal of the all-to-all trading model for fixed income securities. We look forward to improving our access and service to our existing clients globally.”
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Vinode Ramgopal, Chairman of Marco Polo:
“The MTS BondsPro platform allows more than 50 securities firms on our platform to secure direct access to the liquidity of US debt markets. We share with MTS and London Stock Exchange Group a vision to accelerate the growth of local capital markets and this agreement is another step in our mission to lower barriers to cross-border trading and add to a deeper global liquidity pool.”

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For further information:
Tim Benedict (US LSEG) – +1 212 314 1220
Lucie Holloway (LSEG) – +44 20 7797 1222
newsoom@lseg.com

Notes to editors:
*BondsPro is a US-registered ATS available to clients with trading authorization in the US, UK, Switzerland, Bulgaria and Malta.

About MTS:
MTS Group facilitates a number of regulated electronic fixed income trading platforms across Europe and the US that are managed centrally to ensure optimum levels of global harmonisation and consistency. Over 500 unique counterparties trade an average volume of €100 billion each day on these platforms.
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MTS Cash is a comprehensive and professional cash securities trading environment for the interdealer marketplace. MTS cash includes several domestic markets regulated in different jurisdictions enabling primary dealers to access unparalleled liquidity, transparency and coverage.
MTS Italy Repo Segment is a regulated market operated by MTS S.p.A. under the supervision of the Italian Ministry of Treasury, Bank of Italy and Consob. The GCM Segment also allows trading in repo instruments and it is offered from both BondVision EU MTF and BondVision UK, respectively under the supervision of Consob and the FCA.

MTS BondVision is a trusted and efficient multi-dealer-to-client electronic bond trading platform, delivering exceptional access for institutional investors direct to dealers. BondVision provides institutional investors with real-time pricing and the ability to trade with the major dealers. It is available in Europe as a multilateral trading facility operated by MTS S.p.A under supervision of Consob. In the UK it is operated by EuroMTS under supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority. In the US it is operated by MTS Markets International Inc., which is a member firm of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) and the Securities Investor Protection Corp (SIPC).

MTS BondsPro is the a trading platform that supports Corporate Bond trading. MTS BondsPro is an Alternative Trading System registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and operated by MTS Markets International Inc., which is a member firm of the Financial
Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.
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MTS Data is sourced directly and exclusively from the MTS markets and includes benchmark real-time data, reference data, reference prices and historical data, providing the benchmark data source on the fixed income market.

FTSE MTS Indices are operated by FTSE TMX Global Debt Capital Markets. They provide independent, transparent, real-time and tradable Eurozone fixed income indices, based on tradable prices from MTS. FTSE MTS indices are tracked by (and can be traded via) around 40 ETFs in addition to numerous structured products.

For more information, visit www.mtsmarkets.com.

About London Stock Exchange Group:
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE.L) is an international markets infrastructure business. Its diversified global business focuses on capital formation, intellectual property and risk and balance sheet management. LSEG operates an open access model, offering choice and partnership to customers across all of its businesses. The Group can trace its history back to 1698.

The Group operates a broad range of international equity, ETF, bond and derivatives markets, including London Stock Exchange; Borsa Italiana; MTS (Europe’s leading fixed income market); and Turquoise (a pan-European equities MTF). Through its platforms, LSEG offers market participants, including retail investors, institutions and SMEs unrivalled access to Europe’s capital markets. The Group also plays a vital economic and social role, enabling companies to access funds for growth and development.

Through FTSE Russell, the Group is a global leader in financial indexing, benchmarking and analytic services with approximately $15 trillion benchmarked to its indexes. The Group also provides customers with an extensive range of data services, research and analytics through Mergent, SEDOL, UnaVista, XTF, RNS and The Yield Book.

Post trade and risk management services are a significant part of the Group’s business operations. In addition to majority ownership of LCH, a multi-asset global CCP operator, LSEG owns CC&G, the Italian clearinghouse; Monte Titoli, a leading European custody and settlement business.

LSEG Technology develops and operates high-performance technology solutions, including trading, market surveillance and post-trade systems for over 40 organisations and exchanges, including the Group’s own markets. Additional services include network connectivity and hosting.

Headquartered in the United Kingdom, with significant operations in North America, Italy, France and Sri Lanka, the Group employs approximately 4,500 people.

Further information on London Stock Exchange Group can be found at www.lseg.com.

About Marco Polo Securities Inc.:
Marco Polo Securities is a US broker-dealer offering cross-border regulatory and distribution solutions to a robust network of local securities firms across the globe. Through our Marco Polo Passport platform, we deliver technology solutions to bridge cross border divides in accessing the widest range of local market financial products. Marco Polo is a member of FINRA, NFA and SIPC. Further information can be found at https://www.mpsecurities.com

This article was originally published here.