Dealer-backed bond trading venture TradeWeb, has announced plans to launch a commercial paper (CP) marketplace. The TradeWeb CP market will initially derive liquidity from its backers, Credit Suisse First Boston, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Salomon Smith Barney.
TradeWeb CP users will be able to view offerings and live pricing from all participating dealers on one screen, and send an inquiry to any one dealer, says the company.
TradeWeb CP is the company's fifth online marketplace, following US treasuries and agencies, which are fully operational, Euro sovereigns, currently in beta testing with European customers, and TBA mortgage pass-through securities (TBA-MBS), which will soon be in the beta testing phase with US customers.
TradeWeb expects to launch a beta test for its CP market in the next couple of months and to add new dealers upon completion of the test.
Paul Holland, managing director of Merrill Lynch, says: "Electronic execution of trades in the commercial paper market has proven to be an enormous efficiency for all market participants - issuers, dealers and investors. In a high volume market like commercial paper the ability to execute quickly, easily and with certainty is critical to success."