TradeWeb Launches Online Agency Market

TradeWeb LLC, New York, has expanded its services to allow institutional investors to trade U.S.agency-issued securities and selected securities of supranational issuers with TradeWeb dealers. The product launch follows a four-month beta test that included live trading between six major bond dealersand more than 50 institutional investors, the company said. Trading volume exceeded $6 billion per month, and involvedsecurities issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Federal Home Loan Banks, the World Bank, the Inter-American DevelopmentBank, and the Asian Development Bank. The six global investment banks that took part in the beta test -- CreditSuisse First Boston, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, and Salomon SmithBarney -- have agreed to act as market makers for the new online agency market. "The U.S. Agency market, with morethan $1.7 trillion of debt outstanding and new, large bond issues coming on a regular basis, is a huge market opportunityfor TradeWeb," said Jim Toffey, president and chief executive officer of TradeWeb.