Liquidnet Launches Corporate Bond Dark Pool

With its latest dark pool, Liquidnet aims to provide opportunities for corporate bond trading currently unavailable in the marketplace, creating a "much-needed hub of institutional liquidity."

The platform will facilitate trading for US and European corporate bonds — both high yield and investment grade — as well as emerging market corporates and European convertibles.

Similarly to Liquidnet's equities platform, the corporate bond dark pool will allow traders using an order management system (OMS) to put orders into the flow, with "minimal changes to existing workflow." Liquidnet had previously stated it was working with a number of vendors including Charles River Development, Eze Software Group, Fidessa and LineData to provide connectivity into OMS's.

"The fixed income market has been woefully underserved by technology and, as concerns about a liquidity crunch continue to rise, it needs a transformation," says Seth Merrin, founder and CEO of Liquidnet.

Waters included a guest feature from sibling magazine Risk on the rise of nascent corporates dark pools this month, profiling a pair of new venues: TruMid and Electronifie.