The London Stock Exchange will host five free seminars in cities across the UK next week to promote the benefits of its new Order book for Retail Bonds.
Launched on 1 February 2010 in response to strong private investor demand for greater access to fixed income, the new order book offers simple, transparent access to 60 UK gilts and corporate bonds all tradable in easily manageable sizes. Bonds currently available for trading include securities issued by Tesco, BT, National Grid, GlaxoSmithKline, Morgan Stanley, GE Capital, Enterprise Inns, Royal Bank of Scotland and Wal-Mart as well as 49 gilts.
Aimed at local brokers and advisers of potential issuers, the events will be held in partnership with accounting and law firms in Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and London. Exchange representatives will begin by discussing London's markets. They will then give details on the different types of bonds and issuers involved with the new retail platform; explain how the market works and the process for listing and admitting retail bonds, as well as how to access the new order book and take questions from attendees.
Pietro Poletto, Head of Fixed Income for London Stock Exchange Group, said:
"We are looking forward to meeting with local brokers and advisers and introducing them to the benefits of our new Order book for Retail Bonds. This is a brand new market for the UK and we are keen to raise awareness of its advantages across the country. In particular we want to highlight the benefits of retail bond issuance as an effective additional source of funding for companies as well as raising awareness of the market as a liquid, transparent secondary market for bonds tradable in smaller sizes more suitable for the retail investor."