• Platform will initially offer European and U.S. government, agency, mortgage, corporate and covered bond markets
• Mark Monahan appointed as chief executive of MTS Markets International Inc
• MTS Markets International Inc approved as a FINRA-regulated broker-dealer
• New platform expected to go live in Q4 2013

London 9 May, 2013; MTS, a leading European electronic fixed income marketplace, today announced plans to launch a platform for U.S. institutional investors. The platform will enable U.S. buy-side participants to directly access real-time pricing from one of the deepest liquidity pools in Europe for the first time, and execute European and U.S. government, agency, mortgage, and corporate bonds with major dealers.

MTS Markets International Inc, a wholly-owned US subsidiary, has received approval for membership as a FINRA-regulated broker-dealer. Mark Monahan has been appointed as chief executive of MTS Markets International Inc. Monahan was previously CEO of Ballista Securities LLC (acquired by the Intercontinental Exchange in 2011) and CEO of ICAP Electronic Brokerage in Asia Pacific.

The launch of the U.S. dealer-to-client marketplace later this year will enable clients to benefit from price transparency provided by a deep pool of dealer liquidity and comes at an important time for the industry. On-going economic challenges are keeping Europe in the spotlight, and US investors are increasingly looking to access European fixed income markets.

Jack Jeffery, Chief Executive Officer of MTS Markets said: “Building out our fixed income presence in the U.S. is a natural extension for MTS and London Stock Exchange Group. By expanding the reach of our pricing and trade execution, we are not only responding to the on-going regulatory push for greater transparency and efficiency, but providing an attractive, competitive and cost-effective alternative to an important community of institutional investors.”

Mark Monahan, Chief Executive MTS Markets International Inc said: “Increasing regulation, alongside continued uncertainty in the sovereign and credit markets has accelerated the demand for more efficient, informed and connected execution venues. MTS is ideally positioned to answer this need by providing institutional investors with a transparent window into the European marketplace.”

MTS has a 25-year history as a leading provider of electronic trading in the European bond markets, with more than $100 billion executed daily on average over its existing platforms. The company, which is majority-owned by London Stock Exchange Group, plans to provide a highly-competitive service, enabling clients to:

Trade U.S. Treasuries, agencies and corporate as well as European fixed income bonds
Request-for-quote based execution with 30 major liquidity providers
Access Click-to-Trade functionality on MTS BondVision Dealer Pages
MTS U.S. will distribute market data
MTS will initially offer European and U.S. government, agency, corporate and covered bond markets. These services will immediately access pricing and liquidity from the dealer-to-client platform MTS BondVision.

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For further information please contact:

Media Relations:

Lucie Holloway
+44 (0)20 7797 1222
newsroom@londonstockexchange.com

About MTS:
MTS is one of Europe’s leading electronic fixed income marketplace, with over 500 unique counterparties and average daily turnover exceeding EUR 85 billion. MTS customers benefit from its relationship with Europe’s leading diversified exchange business, the London Stock Exchange Group, which operates the largest and most liquid equity marketplace in Europe.

MTS markets provide a professional trading environment for the interdealer marketplace, enabling primary dealers from across the globe to access unparalleled liquidity, transparency and coverage.

MTS further facilitates the dealer-to-client bond market through MTS BondVision, a trusted and efficient electronic bond trading market, delivering exceptional access for institutional investors directly to market makers.

MTS Data is sourced directly and exclusively from the MTS interdealer market and includes benchmark real-time data, reference data, reference prices, time series data and snap-shot data, providing the benchmark data source on the fixed income market.

London Stock Exchange Group:
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE.L) sits at the heart of the world’s financial community. The Group operates a broad range of international equity, bond and derivatives markets, including London Stock Exchange; Borsa Italiana; MTS, Europe’s leading fixed income market; and Turquoise, offering UK and Russian derivatives trading, pan-European and US lit and dark equity trading. Through its markets, the Group offers international business unrivalled access to Europe’s capital markets.

The Group is a leading developer of high performance trading platforms and capital markets software and also offers its customers around the world access and an extensive range of real-time and reference data products and market-leading post-trade services. The Group is also home to a world leading index provider FTSE, which creates and manages over 200,000 equity, bond and alternative asset class indices.

Headquartered in London, United Kingdom with significant operations in Italy and Sri Lanka, the Group employs around 1,900 people. Further information on London Stock Exchange Group can be found at http://www.londonstockexchangegroup.com/