In Brief: TradeWeb Platform For TBA Securities

NEW YORK - The online bond exchange provider TradeWeb LLC has launched a system for trading "to be announced" mortgage pass-through securities.

TradeWeb said Tuesday that investors can use the TBA system to scan prices and make deals electronically with dealers at Credit Suisse First Boston, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, and Salomon Smith Barney.

In TBA trading, until just before settlement the buyer knows nothing about the pools backing the securities except that they meet Bond Market Association standards.

TradeWeb conducted a two-month test during which nearly 40 investors and dealers traded 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate securities.

Trading volume in the test period exceeded $45 billion, and the average trade was worth more than $25 million, according to the company.

Subscribers will have access to live two-sided pricing from the participating dealers. The system displays the best bid and price for each security as well as the results of each trade on the pricing screen.

TBA-MBS is the fifth online market supported by TradeWeb. The others are U.S. Treasury and agency securities, euro sovereigns, and commercial paper.

"With the support of our dealers and institutional customers, we are committed to being the No. 1 online TBA-MBS marketplace," said Jim Toffey, president and chief executive officer of TradeWeb.

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