Santander Corporate & Investment Banking (SCIB) and BlackRock launched the first fully electronic trading solution for Mexican repurchase agreements (repos), which will operate through the Tradeweb Markets platform, placing Mexican repos at the forefront of these operations in the region and replacing manual processes with a digital experience. Mexico is the first country in Latin America to take this step.
The first operation on the Tradeweb platform was executed with BlackRock as client and Santander CIB as liquidity provider. Tradeweb plans to onboard additional dealers and clients with Mexican peso repo books in the near future. Institutional clients — mainly Afores and investment funds — will benefit from a fully digital management process, from the request-for-quotes to execution, post-trade fund allocation, and collateral assignment, promoting transparency and operational efficiency.
Luis Betancourt Barrios, head of Markets at Santander Mexico, said in a statement that “this launch, which positions Santander as a leader in market structure and digitalization in the region together with partners such as BlackRock and Tradeweb, represents a milestone in innovation in Mexican repos and opens a new era in these operations, projecting the country internationally. For our clients, it is a substantial step that, in addition to facilitating operations, allows them to reduce risks by automating processes.”
Sergio Mendez, BlackRock’s country head for Mexico, said in a statement that “trading Mexican repos through our Aladdin platform and Tradeweb represents a radical change. It expands our clients’ trading capabilities and improves operational efficiency. We are very proud to lead this transformation together with our partners.”
Kerim Acanal, managing director and global head of Emerging Markets at Tradeweb, said in a statement that “the Mexican repo market is ready for digitalization. Leveraging our experience in Europe and the United States, we are excited to offer a fully digital trading solution for Mexican repos, improving workflows and access to liquidity.”
Users of BlackRock’s Aladdin OEMS can connect directly to the Tradeweb platform, with Mexican government securities available as collateral. The platform supports trading across all repo segments — including specials, GC, and triparty — for a variety of terms.