Market Axess is a joint-venture corporation backed by ABN AMRO, J.P. Morgan, Deutsche Bank, Chase Manhattan, UBS Warburg, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Credit Suisse First Boston. Combined, these dealers handle more than 40 percent of the fixed-income trading in the selected markets. The partner dealers will fund the bulk of Market Axess' operation. MoneyLine, an aggregator of financial information, provides and hosts the trade execution services for Market Axess via the Internet. Clients view screens displaying bids and offers available from participating dealers in a consistent format.
Clients can submit trade inquiries to one or multiple dealers requesting a firm level.
Dealers' executable prices are delivered simultaneously to the client using a proprietary auction process. Market Axess uses a disclosed counterparty model through which clients and dealers maintain their identities and dealing and settlement relationships. Both dealer and clients can only see the identities specific to the transactions they engage in. Neither dealers nor clients can see identities of other dealers or clients, nor can they discover information about others' activities. Market Axess is currently available solely via the Internet.