Interdealer broker Icap and GreTai Securities Markets, the over-the-counter securities market in Taiwan, have entered into a partnership to provide onshore access to US government bond trading in Taiwan.

Under the new agreement, GreTai is able to provide its customers access to international securities onshore for the first time ever.

GreTai will offer qualified Taiwanese securities firms access to Icap’s global US treasuries liquidity pool through GreTai’s bond trading platform, which is integrated into Icap’s BrokerTec matching engine based in New York.

On 21 August 2009, the Financial Supervisory Commission of Taiwan lifted restrictions on onshore trading of foreign government bonds in Taiwan. Prior to this, the greater majority of Taiwanese trading in US treasury products was facilitated offshore through overseas affiliates.

David Rutter (pictured), deputy chief executive, Icap electronic broking, says: “Icap is pleased to enter into this key strategic business partnership with GreTai, offering Taiwanese bond dealers local access to the world’s largest US treasury liquidity pool. Supporting local markets in their efforts to access global trading opportunities is an important goal for Icap. As financial markets develop, trading is increasingly shifting onshore to leverage local expertise.”

BrokerTec’s straight through processing automatically processes trades, allowing for enhanced execution and settlement, while simultaneously reducing costs and inefficiencies associated with traditional paper-based methods.