Credit derivatives: Q-WIXX ready for takeoff

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Credit derivatives: Q-WIXX ready for takeoff

The buzz surrounding the launch of the new Q-WIXX CDS trading platform suggests that it is one of the most eagerly awaited, and supported, product launches in years.

Simon Morris, Goldman Sachs

"We will look back at the old system and wonder how we ever put up with it"
Simon Morris, Goldman Sachs

The platform, which enables trading of large portfolios of single-name CDS, was enthusiastically presented early last month as a solution to the growing logistical problems of the burgeoning credit derivatives market. "Volumes have been growing in the credit derivatives market at a rate of 50% a year," says Derek Smith, head of flow credit trading for Deutsche Bank. "Nothing suggests we are approaching a slowdown in this growth."

At the time of launch, seven leading banks had signed up to the system: BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch and UBS. Since then, ABN Amro has also joined, and three others are in the process of doing so.

This support is not only because of the quality of the product, but also because banks are keen to move away from the old spreadsheet system of trading credit portfolios. "The old process is in no way sustainable or scalable in the current environment," says Simon Morris, head of European credit trading at Goldman Sachs.

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