Patent ID: 7693774

Claim:
An anonymous trading system for anonymous trading of financial instruments between traders, the system comprising: a computer communications network for transmitting electronic messages; a plurality of trader terminals grouped into a plurality of trading floors each trader terminal in a trading floor being connected to the computer communications network and being arranged to generate electronic order messages including quote messages and/or hit messages, each quote message comprising a bid or an offer, each hit message comprising a bid or offer, and to display to a trader order information received from other trader terminals over the network; a plurality of trading agents, each trading agent being connected to the communications network for communication with one of the trading floors; a plurality of broking nodes, each broking node being connected to the communications network, each trading agent being arranged td communicate with at least one broking node, each broking node comprising: order storage means for storing received quotes in a bid quote queue and an offer quote queue; a matching engine for matching bid and offer orders input into the system from the trader terminals and for assisting in executing deals where orders are matched; price distribution means for providing market information to the trader terminals of the trading floor or trading floors to which the broking node is connected via a trading agent; credit storage means for storing credit information for the trading floor or trading floors to which the broking node is connected via a trading agent; and market view distribution means for providing a market view to each trader terminal in the trading floor or trading floors to which the broking node is connected via a trading agent, the market view being screened in accordance with the credit information for that trading floor, such that the market view for trader terminals in a given trading floor comprises only quotes from trader terminals in other trading floors with which the given trading floor can execute a deal; wherein a plurality of trading floors extends a single pool of credit to other pluralities of trading floors, and the system further comprises a credit limit agent for each plurality of trading floors for storing credit limits available for trades between that plurality of trading floors and counterparty pluralities of trading floors, and for updating the credit information in the broking nodes of that plurality of trading floors.