BNP Paribas has launched an online trading platform designed to market corporate bonds, structured credit-linked notes, as well as equity and fixed income hybrid notes on a global scale.
The French banks say its CredIM platform will aim to provide real-time liquidity and a valuation service to retail, private bank and institutional clients.
The launch of CredIM is linked to a strategic move by BNP Paribas towards structured retail business, not only through the firm's own retail, private banking and online network, but also through third party distributors.
Farid Amellal, global head of credit trading at BNP Paribas says: "In a more competitive environment where credit spread levels are tightening, the CredIM trading platform provides a quality service to BNP Paribas' clients."
He says CredIM will provide quotations directly to exchanges in 2005 - the first targets being the Swiss, German and Euronext stock exchanges. The first catalogue of notes is already being quoted with a tight bid-offer spread, adds Amellal.
The BNP Paribas structured credit market-making desk provides tradable bid-ask quotes on the the bank's LiveCredit Web platform during London trading hours. The same quotes are published to Bloomberg and Reuters BPSC and Credittrading screens.
The LiveCredit Web site also offers an integrated service, which ranges from real-time quotes for corporate bonds, structured and hybrid notes, through news and research, product libraries and termsheets, to an inventory and post-trade section. Full access to CredIM via LiveCredit will be available to clients at the end of the year.