Press releases 2011

7 July 2011
MTS to Launch Hungarian Government Bond Market

- Brings number of countries already using MTS bond markets to 16

MTS, Europe’s premier facilitator for the electronic fixed income market, today announces that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government Debt Management Agency Pte Ltd (ÁKK Zrt), the Hungarian debt management agency, to launch an electronic interdealer market for local government debt.

Hungary will join the existing 15 countries that already use MTS for their primary and secondary government bond markets. The market will aim to be operational by first week of January 2012.

A number of leading international banks, including Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, have already declared their interest in participating in the new electronic bond market, and have already begun working towards its implementation.

Laszlo Buzas, Deputy CEO at ÁKK Zrt, said:

“We are very pleased to be working with MTS to build an efficient electronic market for Hungarian debt. MTS has a proven track record of building and managing electronic fixed income markets across Europe, and with this partnership we will bring best practice and further liquidity to the Hungarian bond market, while meeting existing and evolving regulatory requirements for transparency and operational stability.”

Jack Jeffery, Chief Executive of MTS, said:

“We are delighted to be providing this infrastructure in Hungary, which will help meet a growing demand to electronically trade Hungarian sovereign debt. This announcement follows the recent launch of an electronic market for Czech government bonds and further expands MTS’s footprint in Central Europe.”

Uberto Palomba, Managing Director, Head of CEE Trading at Goldman Sachs, said:

”The introduction of electronic trading marks a further step in the evolution of the Hungarian fixed income market towards practices that will improve all aspects of trading and price discovery, for all parties involved”.

Zoltan Kurali, Chief Country Officer of Deutsche Bank in Hungary, said:

"MTS's combination of proven products, technology and network of counterparties facilitates the Government Debt Management Agency's initiative by enhancing Hungarian government debt's price transparency and, as a consequence, its attractiveness to Hungarian and international investors. We at Deutsche Bank have long been, and will remain committed to, the development of Hungarian capital markets and very much support this initiative."

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For further information please contact:

Media Relations:

Jonny BLOSTONE                                             Anna MASCIONI
+ 44 (0) 20 7797 1222                                        +39 02 72426 211         

info@mtsmarkets.com

Notes to Editors:

About MTS:

MTS is Europe’s premier facilitator for the electronic fixed income trading market, with over 500 unique counterparties and average daily volumes exceeding EUR 85 billion. MTS customers benefit from its relationship with Europe’s leading diversified exchange business, the London Stock Exchange Group, which operates the largest and most liquid equity marketplace in Europe.

MTS markets provide the professional trading environment for the interdealer marketplace, enabling primary dealers from across the globe to access unparalleled liquidity, transparency and coverage.

MTS further facilitates the dealer-to-client bond market through BondVision, the most trusted and efficient electronic bond trading market, delivering exceptional access for institutional investors direct to the market makers.

MTS Data is sourced directly and exclusively from the MTS interdealer market and includes benchmark real-time data, reference data, reference prices, time series data and snap- shot data, providing the benchmark data source on the fixed income market.

About London Stock Exchange Group:

London Stock Exchange Group (LSE.L) sits at the heart of the world’s financial community. The Group operates a broad range of international equity, bond and derivatives markets, including London Stock Exchange; Borsa Italiana; MTS, Europe's leading fixed income market; and Turquoise, offering pan-European and US lit and dark equity trading. Through its markets, the Group offers international business unrivalled access to Europe’s capital markets.

The Group is a leading developer of high performance trading platforms and capital markets software and also offers its customers around the world an extensive range of real-time and reference data products and market-leading post-trade services. 

Headquartered in London, United Kingdom with significant operations in Italy and Sri Lanka, the Group employs around 1,500 people.

Further information on London Stock Exchange Group can be found at www.londonstockexchangegroup.com