TransFICC Launches Credit Agent

TransFICC, a connectivity and workflow services provider for fixed income and derivatives markets, has launched Credit Agent, a new service which automates quote negotiation and trading for dealers providing pricing on dealer-to-client (D2C) venues.

Credit Agent enables dealers to automate their credit trading, increasing workflow efficiency while providing clients with an improved and faster service, the firm claims. Depending on a dealer’s configuration, Credit Agent routes enquiries to either stream prices, negotiate and execute automatically based on dealer’s price stream, or routes them to traders for manual execution.

TransFICC says it supports more than 50,000 RFQs per minute, plus functionality for on-the-wire workflows, automatic requoting, last look, price tolerance acceptance, and auto rejects. The service is available for use on Bloomberg Bonds US, MarketAxess US, Tradeweb Cori and Trumid List, with LTX and MTS BondVision in development. 

As the fixed income market evolves to a more electronic structure, TransFICC observes that the volume of quote requests is rising, particularly quotes for smaller sizes. The result is that leading dealers now manage up to 40,000 RFQs per day, with month-end spikes reaching thousands per second. The scale of this activity is pushing firms towards automated solutions, it adds.

Automating quote and trade negotiation is a complex and time-consuming process, as D2C trading venues support multiple RFQ negotiation workflows, which vary from venue to venue, the firm further explains. To automate these workflows all state transitions need to be mapped, codified, tested, and maintained.

“The volume of credit RFQs continues to grow and dealers of all sizes need to automate these workflows to satisfy client demand and efficiently capture trade flow,” says Tom McKee, co-founder of TransFICC. “Credit Agent provides the code, support, and security out of the box, meaning dealers can set up in a week and go live within a month.”