EquiLend has added five new counterparties to its flagship NGT securities finance electronic trading platform.
The new participants include DZ Bank, E*Trade, Janney Montgomery Scott, Matsui Securities and TD Ameritrade, taking the platform to over 100 users.
“We have seen explosive growth in electronic trading in the global securities finance market in recent years as market participants recognise the value NGT brings in workflow efficiency,” said Paul Lynch, global head of products, EquiLend.
“Especially as regulators are requiring more transparency into market activity, firms are increasingly finding manual, bilateral trading to be a barrier to profitability. NGT offers firms not only streamlined workflow but unrivalled access to their lending and borrowing counterparties.”
After launching in 2015, EquiLend undertook a revamp of NGT last year through a partnership with Stonewain, a provider of software and solutions for the securities finance industry, leveraging its Spire system to offer a single trading and post-trade platform.
At the beginning of this year, EquiLend also onboarded 50 users to its new collateral trading platform, allowing the financing desks of banks, brokers and hedge funds, to post bids and/ or offers for collateral upgrades and downgrades, negotiate and agree on fixed and extendible trade baskets, and manage trade lifecycle events.