NEW YORK and MEXICO CITY, June 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MarketAxess Holdings Inc. , the operator of a leading electronic trading platform for U.S. and European high-grade corporate and emerging markets bonds, today announced the signing of a marketing and distribution agreement with Decimales S.A. de C.V. of Mexico City.
Under the agreement, Decimales will market the MarketAxess emerging markets trading platform in Mexico. The agreement covers marketing of the platform to new institutional investor clients in Mexico as well as local client service and support.
"Our partnership with Decimales is an opportunity to extend our technology platform into a new geographic client segment in a burgeoning market," said Richard M. McVey, chairman and chief executive officer of MarketAxess. "Our emerging markets product is a core cylinder of growth for MarketAxess and this agreement reflects our focus on expanding our presence in the region."
MarketAxess' emerging markets platform will offer institutional investors in Mexico:
-Direct links to 17 leading global emerging market fixed-income dealers;
-Liquidity provided by dealer trading desks in New York, London, Sao
Paulo and Mexico City; and
-Access to more than 250 sovereign and corporate emerging market benchmark
issues.
"With this agreement, Decimales takes a major step forward to expand the range of electronic trading capabilities enjoyed by our clients," said Gerard Ussel, chief executive officer of Decimales. "We are pleased to be increasing the breadth of investment technology we offer to institutional investors in Mexico with the global liquidity available on MarketAxess."
In addition to the emerging markets cash trading platform actively used by 270 MarketAxess clients, MarketAxess is enhancing the firm's emerging markets product lineup with the addition of emerging markets credit default swap indices (CDX-EM) to its credit default swaps (CDS) trading system. The addition of CDX-EM indices extends MarketAxess' position as a leading provider of comprehensive solutions for the derivatives market.
About MarketAxess
MarketAxess operates one of the leading platforms for the electronic trading of corporate bonds and certain other types of fixed-income securities, serving as an electronic platform through which our more than 650 active institutional investor clients can access the liquidity provided by our broker-dealer clients. MarketAxess' multi-dealer trading platform allows our institutional investor clients to simultaneously request competitive, executable bids or offers from multiple broker-dealers, and to execute trades with the broker-dealer of their choice. MarketAxess offers our clients the ability to trade U.S. high-grade corporate bonds, European high-grade corporate bonds, credit default swaps, agencies, high yield and emerging markets bonds. MarketAxess also provides data and analytical tools that help our clients make trading decisions, and we facilitate the trading process by electronically communicating order information between trading counterparties. MarketAxess' current participating dealers are: ABN AMRO, Banc of America Securities, Barclays PLC, Bear Stearns, BNP Paribas, Citigroup Global Markets, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank Securities, Dresdner Bank, DZ Bank, FTN Financial, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, ING Financial Markets, JP Morgan, Jefferies & Company, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, RBC Capital Markets, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander Investment Securities, SG Corporate & Investment Banking, UBS and Wachovia Securities.
About Decimales S.A. de C.V.
Decimales operates the first platform for electronic trading in Mexico. http://www.decimales.net/ offers our institutional money managers the ability to trade Mexican government bonds, FX, forwards, swaps and corporate bonds denominated in Mexican pesos. Trading on http://www.decimales.net/ provides enhanced liquidity, transparency and depth in the Mexican local market through links to 16 international dealers. Decimales was founded in 2000 and launched its inquiry-based trading platform in 2001.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including statements about the outlook and prospects for Company and industry growth, as well as statements about the Company's future financial and operating performance. These and other statements that relate to future results and events are based on MarketAxess' current expectations. Actual results in future periods may differ materially from the those currently expected or desired because of a number of risks and uncertainties, including: our dependence on our broker-dealer clients; the level and intensity of competition in the fixed-income electronic trading industry and the pricing pressures that may result; the variability of our growth rate; our limited operating history; the level of trading volume transacted on the MarketAxess platform; the absolute level and direction of interest rates and the corresponding volatility in the corporate fixed-income market; our ability to develop new products and offerings and the market's acceptance of those products; our ability to enter into strategic alliances and to acquire other businesses and successfully integrate them with our business; our future capital needs and our ability to obtain capital when needed; and other factors. The Company's actual results and financial condition may differ, perhaps materially, from the anticipated results and financial condition in any such forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. More information about these and other factors affecting MarketAxess' business and prospects is contained in MarketAxess' periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and can be accessed at http://www.marketaxess.com/.
