Barclays launches Barx in Asia

Barclays Capital has launched Barx, its online single-dealer interest rate swaps trading platform, in the Asia-Pacific. The electronic platform will enable the region’s investors to trade US dollar and yen interest rate swaps through their Bloomberg terminals.

The Asia-Pacific launch follows 18 months after Barx began offering euro-denominated interest rate swaps to its European customers, and comes just over six months after the service was launched in the US. As well as interest rate swaps, Barclays’ Asian customers will also be able to trade US Treasuries, Treasury inflation-protected securities and Japanese government bonds on the platform.

“[This] will increase the liquidity and the amount that you see trading in the Asian time zone,” said Justin Bull, managing director and head of sales in Asia-Pacific, in Hong Kong. Asian investors currently hold around half of the US Federal debt stock, yet turnover in these securities in the Asian time zone currently accounts for less than 10% of US daily trading volume, according to Barclays figures.

Barx, which officially launched in Asia yesterday after a three-week long ‘soft launch’, has already seen trading on all asset types, added Bull. “There are people in Europe and the US who are looking to extend trading hours. There are also those who wanted us to complete the G3 matrix by adding yen to the US dollar and euro swaps. And then there are the key investors in Asia, who are keen to have as much price transparency as possible,” he said.

Since its launch in 2003, the platform has seen over 10,000 trades in interest rate swaps alone, accounting for over $800 billion in notional volume.