Bloomberg Expands China Bond Market Access

Bloomberg has struck a deal with the China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS) to become the first trading platform to offer access to both China’s interbank bond market (CIBM) Direct and Bond Connect schemes. The agreement with the CFETS means qualified investors can now begin trading onshore Chinese bonds via the Bloomberg Terminal under both initiatives. For the CIBM Direct scheme, Bloomberg’s VCON voice confirmation feature is connected to CFETS for trade ticket communication, so that offshore investors can send trade details to their onshore agent banks on the Terminal. Onshore banks can also send messages to offshore clients using VCON to register trades on the CFETS. Similarly, the Bond Connect initiative is now accessible to investors on the Terminal via Bloomberg’s TSOX execution management system (EMS). Terminal clients will be able to request quotes from user-selected Chinese dealers who support Bond Connect. Blomberg said that the move means TSOX users and traders will benefit from end-to-end handling of Bond Connect transactions for greater transparency.