DirectBooks, the capital markets consortium developing bond issuance technology to increase primary market efficiency has announced that Mizuho and Credit Suisse have joined its platform. Addressing inefficiencies in the marketplace across multiple communication channels, DirectBooks is aiming to simplify the primary issuance process through the use of structured data and streamlined communications.
Mizuho claims a top ten USD Investment Grade position and will bring support from its global position in capital markets across the Americas, EMEA and Asia, including its ranking in Japanese Yen Bonds. Credit Suisse’s credit franchise with a strength in both investment grade and leveraged finance, spanning the US, European and Asian capital markets further bolsters the consortium.
“I am excited to continue our network expansion with Mizuho and Credit Suisse as the first banks to join us since our launch,” said DirectBooks CEO, Rich Kerschner. “These major dealers are great additions to our platform, and we look forward to working with them as we expand our global footprint in 2021.”
“Mizuho is proud to join DirectBooks to help lead the evolution of capital markets by providing an innovative, technology-driven solution to our corporate and investment banking clients,” said Jerry Rizzieri, president and CEO at Mizuho Securities USA. “Capital markets origination has been a major growth driver for the industry and is core to how we support our clients, thus, this consortium represents a strategically important next step for the market.”
Rob Kay, head of Americas Debt Syndicate at Credit Suisse said, “Direct Books represents a powerful and logical evolution in the primary market for fixed income. Credit Suisse looks forward to working with DirectBooks to modernise the new issue process through technology, thereby benefitting investors and issuers alike.”
The DirectBooks platform recently launched with deal announcement functionality for globally distributed U.S. Dollar Investment Grade issuances, offering a common set of structured deal data and document access for institutional investors. Orders and Allocations functionality will be added next, and the product set will continue to expand globally with Euro deals. Onboarding of additional dealers and institutional investors will continue to be phased in throughout 2021.
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