Bank of America, CSFB, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and JPMorganChase have invested in LoanX, a new secondary market liquidity platform for trading par and near-par loans.
The LoanX liquidity platform was co-founded in November 2000 by Michael Rushmore, a former managing director of syndicated finance research for Banc of America Securities, and creditex, which operates an electronic trading platform for credit derivatives.
The new trading market - expected to launch before yearend - will aim to provide tools and technology for confidential, online negotiation of trades. The syndicated loan market is valued at $160 billion annually.
"LoanX is the first electronic trading platform for loans to gain widespread support from the dealer community," says Don Pollard, co-head of syndicated loans at CSFB. "Our goal is to provide our clients with improved price transparency and real-time product information to better manage their portfolios."
The initiative has also won support among the investor community, with New York City Investment Fund joining the syndicated loan dealers in making an equity investment in LoanX.