The London Stock Exchange has today increased the number of securities available for trading on its new Order book for Retail Bonds.
From this morning, bonds issued by Marks and Spencer, Unilever, Safeway, Kingfisher, National Grid Gas, Compass Group and Imperial Tobacco Finance are available for trading on the book in retail-sized denominations, bringing the total number of corporate bonds on the platform to 18. One gilt has also been migrated to the order book, bringing the total number of treasury bonds to 50.
Evolution Securities is acting as market maker in these additional bonds and will provide two-way executable prices on-screen. In addition, the open market model means that other market participants are able to enter their own tradable prices onto the order book, encouraging price discovery and facilitating further liquidity.
The new service, launched on 1 February offers private investors simple, transparent access to government and corporate debt securities in easily manageable sizes on a centralised electronic order book for the first time.
Pietro Poletto, Head of Fixed Income Markets for London Stock Exchange Group, said: "We are delighted to further expand the choice of bonds available on our new platform. In response to customer demand, we have introduced securities to the order book issued by some of the UK's biggest and most recognisable names. Continuing to expand the choice of bonds available to private investors will be key in establishing a successful market."