Banks team up for ‘Ion replacement’ project

Consortium weighs building fixed income software in potential threat to Ion, the dominant vendor

Ion, whose offices overlook St. Paul's Cathedral, is a leading provider of trading systems

Rob Scott

A group of European and UK banks is considering building its own fixed income trading software, in a move that could allow members to cut ties with the market’s biggest vendor, Ion.

The project, dubbed Cohesion, is in its early days but pitches were invited from potential builders of the technology this summer. The banks are now understood to be deciding whether to commit further time and money to the work.

“All banks need to be more efficient, so when you have a player that’s as dominant as