WS&T Exclusive: Tullett Prebon Unveils Electronic Trading in Repos

TradeBlade, a separate division of Tullett Prebon, will launch a fully electronic inter-dealer trading system in January. Aimed at the institutional fixed-income dealing community, the new platform -- known as TradeBlade -- will initially focus on trading dollar-based repurchase agreements (repos), according to Michael D'Arpino, CEO at TradeBlade.

"What we're really trying to provide is an economically sound, anonymous and efficient trading platform," D'Arpino, who is based in New York, told Wall Street & Technology in an interview. "People within Tullett Prebon will not know" anything about the electronic transactions, he says. "This is separate and apart from our voice operations."

The move into electronic trading positions Tullett Prebon, an intermediary in wholesale financial markets, to compete against its two main rivals - BrokerTec, the electronic platform used by the ICAP Group and eSpeed, the electronic trading arm of Cantor Fitzgerald.

"Strategically, it allows us to enter into a different area," says D'Arpino. While Tullett Prebon is currently the No. 2 interdealer broker, second to ICAP, D'Arpino says, "We want to be able to offer our customers the same array of services that they do." The front-end was developed over the past six months and is new technology, while the back-end is based on existing technology that has been in use in New York and in London for the past three years, says D'Arpino.

Currently, London-based Tullett Prebon, with 26 locations around the world including offices in New York and Jersey City, N.J., operates a hybrid model with voice broking provided to clients via direct lines to trading desks. Proprietary screens that display historical data, analytics and real-time prices, according to the company's Web site, also support this.

The system, which was built internally, has gone through several iterations, says D'Arpino "We've been approached by the industry. We were happy with the solution. Down the road, the firm will look to introduce other instruments through Trade Blade, he says. "What we really do is ask the marketplace what their specific needs are. That's what we did with this product and our plans are the same for any other product that we enter." Ivy is Editor-at-Large for Advanced Trading and Wall Street & Technology. Ivy is responsible for writing in-depth feature articles, daily blogs and news articles with a focus on automated trading in the capital markets. As an industry expert, Ivy has reported on a myriad ... View Full Bio