Investment bank UBS to outsource fixed income trading platform
(Reuters) – Swiss bank UBS (UBSN.VX) will begin outsourcing its fixed income trading platform to two technology groups in an attempt to save costs, a source told Reuters.
UBS declined to comment.
French trading software firm Murex and Ion Trading have been finalized to handle bookings and electronic exchange gateways, the source said.
The combination of a regulatory drive to make markets less risky, a reduction in banks trading for their own account and the end of a 30-year bull market in fixed income is forcing all banks to rethink their operations and, in most cases, shrink.
Europe’s leading investment banks took a trading revenue battering in the third quarter last year that gives a glimpse into the upheaval facing the industry as a whole.
Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities units are particularly vulnerable to the sweep of regulatory change to make markets more transparent and banks take less risk, in a bid to prevent another financial crisis.
Murex and Ion Trading could not be reached for a comment outside of normal business hours.