NYSE Euronext To Launch Corporate Bond Platform
Thursday, July 29, 2010

NYSE Euronext has announced that it is creating the first pan-European Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) for corporate bonds, making it the first market operator to respond to the specifications issued by the Cassiopeia Committee on April 26, 2010.

The new platform will be open to all regulated institutions authorized to operate in Europe and seeking to trade, among professionals, fixed and floating-rate bonds denominated in euros and issued by non-sovereign issuers.

The corporate bond trading platform will only accept firm orders with no minimum amount and will process orders chronologically based on the time they are recorded in the order book. It will be designed to ensure complete transparency, with an order book giving participants firm orders and prices. Post-market information will also be made public.

Working closely with French market authority Autorité des Marchés Financiers, the Market Surveillance team of NYSE Euronext European cash markets based in Paris will ensure that transactions are executed in full compliance with regulations.

Dominique Cerutti, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of NYSE Euronext said: “NYSE Euronext is the first stock exchange in Europe to respond to the needs expressed by the Cassiopeia Committee, and does so by capitalizing on the efficiency of our business model and expertise in developing a secondary market for bonds. This initiative is at the heart of our strategy and illustrates our commitment to making Paris the European benchmark for trading in euro-denominated corporate bonds.”

The Cassiopeia Committee was formed to implement the corporate bond platforms proposed by a working group created to study how liquidity could be injected into the corporate bond market, which dried up when the the credit crunch reached its height.

Philippe Musette, Head of Debt Markets for Europe at NYSE Euronext, added: “Our aim is to provide clients with the widest possible range of services adapted to their needs, using a single entry point and leading-edge technology.”

Clearing of securities traded on the platform will be handled by LCH.Clearnet SA, with links to the major International Central Security Depositories (ICSD) and European national Central Security Depositories (CSD) for settlement and delivery.