LONDON and NEW YORK, Jan. 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ipreo, a leading global provider of market intelligence and productivity solutions to financial services and corporate professionals, announced the successful implementation of Investor Access, which allows investors to electronically submit orders directly to the sell-side syndicate banks on fixed-income new issues. A 5-year GBP-denominated covered bond transaction was executed for a Commonwealth Bank of Australia deal last Thursday, which marks the first time both sell-side and buy-side participants have conducted the deal process electronically - including order entry and allocation - on a live primary issue.
An industry-led initiative, Investor Access allows the investors to be alerted to new-issue announcements, receive structured information on deal terms and conditions, submit and manage orders, and receive electronic notification of allocation and pricing details, along with other deal-related information such as the prospectus and final terms.
Thursday's Commonwealth Bank of Australia deal represents the culmination of a two-year development process that began with sell-side sponsorship of the idea to improve efficiency in the primary issue process. The initiative evolved to include a robust investor community and succeeded through the collaboration of all participants to make that idea a reality. Investor Access is now available to all banks in the EMEA region, and work is already well underway to launch Investor Access in Asia, where Ipreo is working with banks and a number of leading buy-side firms in the region to prepare for go-live in 2017.
"This is a very important milestone in the market evolution towards greater efficiency and reduced risk in the deal and order communications process," said Bill Sherman, EVP, Global Markets Group at Ipreo. "The solution has immediate tangible benefits to the investors, syndicate banks, and issuers. We're delighted to have been able to facilitate this process and help make these improvements possible."
Thursday's milestone Commonwealth Bank of Australia deal was led by CBA, HSBC & Nomura.
"The use of Investor Access on this initial deal was an exciting step forward in improving how business is done in the primary markets, and we are very pleased to have been part of it," said Chris Jones, MD, Debt Syndicate, London at HSBC.
The Investor Access initiative is the result of collaboration between a core group of eleven sponsoring banks and an active community of over 100 buy-side participants. The original sponsoring group includes BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole CIB, Commerzbank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, ING, MUFG, NatWest Markets, Santander, Societe Generale, and UBS.
About Ipreo
Ipreo powers the networks that connect capital to ideas. We are a leading global provider of financial services technology, data and analytics, supporting all participants in the capital-raising process, including banks, public and private companies, institutional and individual investors, as well as research, asset management and wealth management firms. Our unique, cross-asset class solutions equip our clients with the information and tools they need for more effective decision-making and a more efficient workflow. Ipreo is private-equity held by Blackstone and Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division, and has more than 1100 employees serving clients in every major financial hub around the world. For more information, visit www.ipreo.com.
