Global fixed income platform TradeWeb is reporting record trading for 2003, with volumes reaching $18.3 trillion, an increase of 70% over 2002 volumes.
TradeWeb says 2003 was the fifth year running that it saw volumes increase and that growth was distributed across its entire range of fixed-income asset classes.
Jim Toffey, CEO of TradeWeb, says: "2003 will be seen as the year in which TradeWeb moved firmly into the mainstream of the global fixed-income business."
In Europe, TradeWeb's 2003 volume surpassed €1.9 trillion, an increase of 110% on the previous year.
TradeWeb says more than 300 major buy-side firms electronically allocated over 550,000 block trades during 2003, using its TradeXpress STP network. Total allocated volume was up 75% from 2002.
Separately, TradeWeb is now providing auction-based trading for UK Government Bonds on its electronic trading network. Initially, eight Gilt edged market makers (GEMMs) are offering liquidity for the product, with more scheduled to join shortly.
Lee Olesky, president of TradeWeb, says: "It is the first time that UK Gilts have ever been offered electronically on a multi-dealer auction-based platform and the response has been phenomenal."
The first trade was accepted just 27 seconds after the market opened, and a total of 50 trades, worth £263 million were executed on the first day's trading alone, says Olesky.