Banks should find the fixed-income new-issue process much simpler from May when the International Primary Markets Association launches its long-awaited bookbuilding network.
But the full benefits of the system will come at a hefty price - an annual fee of £100,000. Many of the firms committed to this project have already paid in advance of the launch. Others will wait to see how it works before they contribute.
Ipma Match will help syndicate banks in Europe during pot deals by giving each investor a unique ID. If that sounds simple, that's because it is. Participating banks have handed their sacred client lists to Ipma, and Ipma has mapped those lists against each other to make sure that each investor is labelled identically by each bank.
In new issues, the banks will be able to share bookbuilding information, so they will see which banks have sold which bonds to which investors, unless that information has been entered confidentially. The banks' own new-issue software will link in to this shared list, so syndicate officials will not need to retype information about orders.
| Banks involved in Ipma Match | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source: Ipma Match |
It is hoped this will stop confusion and failed trades arising from duplicated orders in pot deals.