A trading startup is setting out to tackle a key problem in the world's most important market

pulse

April 25, 2017 2:27 PM

A new trading platform focused on hard-to-trade segments of the one of the most important markets in the world just opened for business.

Susan Estes OpenDoor

A new trading platform focused on hard-to-trade segments of one of the most important markets in the world just opened for business.

OpenDoor Securities launched Tuesday, April 25, with more than 30 firms representing more than $5 trillion in assets already onboarded.

Companies There are six sponsor-dealer investment banks on the system too, with another five set to join by the end of the second quarter.

The platform is auction based and is what's called an all-to-all marketplace for off-the-run Treasurys and Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS). In plain English, that means the platform hosts auctions for instruments at a particular time where anyone can transact with anyone.

“This is a watershed moment for the US Treasury market,” Susan Estes, CEO of OpenDoor, said in a statement. Estes is a Wall Street veteran, having previously worked at Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank. “The Treasury market remains bifurcated between the six benchmark issues and the remaining three-hundred plus off-the-runs."

“We absolutely believe that the OpenDoor platform represents an innovative way to utilize technology to achieve added liquidity in the off-the-run and less liquid corners of the Treasuries market,"

“OpenDoor’s platform increases the pool of liquidity for the entire market," Scotia acts as a riskless principal, allowing our customers to leverage our clearing infrastructure in an anonymous marketplace. We in turn, also transact anonymously for our principal business. It is a win-win.”

OpenDoor said it plans to expand its client base further outside of the US into other products and markets across Europe and Asia.

pulse