MTS, Europe’s premier facilitator for the electronic fixed income market, today announces that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic to launch of an electronic interdealer market for local government debt in accordance with the Funding and Debt Management Strategy for 2011. MTS will also provide real-time market data for the platform.
The Czech Republic will join the 14 countries which already use MTS for their primary and secondary government bond markets. The market will aim to be operational by the end of Q2 2011.
A number of leading international banks have already declared their interest in participating in the Czech government bond market once it begins operating on MTS’s platform, and are meeting today with the Czech Finance Ministry to begin working towards its implementation.
Jan Gregor, Deputy Minister of Finance of the Czech Republic, said:
“We are thrilled to be working with MTS to build a modern electronic market infrastructure for the trading of our debt. Thanks to its experience and expertise in the field, MTS will help us benefit from the high levels of transparency, efficiency and liquidity which are crucial in the operation of today’s sovereign debt markets and create the conditions for smooth state funding in the long term.”
Jack Jeffery, Chief Executive of MTS, said:
“This is a great opportunity for MTS. The Czech Republic is an increasingly key European market and we are delighted to be providing infrastructure for the electronic trading of its sovereign debt. Our buyside clients are already able to trade Czech Koruna debt through the Request for Quote (RFQ) of BondVision and using our technology, which has been developed by traders for traders, we are confident we will provide the support they need to engage effectively in this market”.
Slawomir Komonski, Executive Director, Investment Banking of Komercni Banka said:
”We are pleased with this new development, which marks a further step in the evolution of the Czech fixed income market towards established practices that will improve all aspects of trading and price discovery, for all parties involved”.
Radek Prokop, Head of Global Government Bonds&CEE Swaps of Erste Bank said:
“This initiative is a positive step that will enhance Czech government debt's transparency and attractiveness to investors. We are keen to support the project and ensure that we can contribute meaningfully to its successful launch”.
Uberto Palomba, Managing Director, Head of CEE Trading at Goldman Sachs said:
“The introduction of MTS in the Czech government bond market is likely to significantly enhance overall transparency and meaningfully contribute to improvements in liquidity of Czech government bonds. It will position the Czech government bond market closer to the standards common in the Euro government space and allow primary dealers to attract more international investor demand.”
A list of interested participating banks can be found on the Czech Ministry of Finance website http://www.mfcr.cz