OREANDA-NEWS. October 12, 2015. SGX Bond Trading (“SGX BT”), a subsidiary of Singapore Exchange (“SGX”) today announced the appointment of UBS Limited (“UBS”) as the General Counterparty for SGX Bond Pro, SGX’s Over-the-Counter (“OTC”) electronic venue for trading of Asian bonds.

SGX Bond Pro is a new trading platform set up by SGX to connect buyers and sellers in the Asian G3 fixed income market. The platform allows dealers and institutional investors to trade Asian G3 bonds. To cater to the different needs of these participants and deliver enhanced liquidity in Asian bonds, SGX Bond Pro offers multiple market places and trading protocols that are facilitated via the General Counterparty.

In the role of general counterparty, UBS executes trades with authorised counterparties that are matched on the SGX Bond Pro Platform. This enables authorised counterparties who have no bilateral agreements in place to trade on the platform by executing with the general counterparty, while maintaining pre and post trade anonymity. The General Counterparty trades will be transacted with Clearing and Execution Services, an agency execution team separate from the trading business at UBS.

Commenting on the appointment, Muthukrishnan Ramaswami, President of SGX, said, “A liquid secondary market for Asian bonds is vital for Asia’s increasing funding and investment needs. SGX recognises the need for a market infrastructure solution to facilitate liquidity. The establishment of SGX Bond Pro is an innovative solution for the Asian bond market, and the General Counterparty is an integral element of SGX Bond Pro. UBS has a long track record in the region and has been a front runner and innovator in the development of execution services for bonds, and is a natural choice of partner for SGX.”

Anthony Hall, regional head of FX, Rates and Credit said, “UBS is a leader and innovator in the Asian bond market and we are delighted to be the first general counterparty on SGX Bond Pro. It is UBS's belief that the market is evolving and platforms, such as SGX Bond Pro and UBS's Bond Port, will play a vital role in the future of credit trading. We aim to provide additional liquidity and connectivity between market participants, as we have done in other regions and this initiative is part of our ongoing commitment to support our clients on all their investment needs. Singapore is the regional hub for the UBS FX, Rates and Credit (FRC) business. UBS has always had a collaborative relationship with SGX and this is the next step in strengthening that relationship and enhancing the Asian bond market. "

SGX Bond Pro platform is expected to start trading in the 4th quarter 2015, commencing with trading of Asian credits in G3 currencies, followed by Asian local currency bonds.