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The European Primary Dealers Association (EPDA), an affiliate of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), today launched its European Primary Dealerships Handbook. The Handbook gathers together for the first time significant information on both the structure and functioning of the primary dealership systems in Europe.
The Handbook, which is free to the public and available online at www.sifma.org/epda/handbook, offers readers information on 15 EU member states’ government bond markets. It also covers country ratings, quoting obligations and primary and secondary market criteria. In addition, it lists the relevant contacts within the 15 Debt Management Offices (DMOs), contacts within the central banks and those at investment banks operating as Primary Dealers.
Emmanuelle Roux, associate director of the EPDA said, “In launching this Handbook we are very pleased to provide both our members and the European government bond markets community with a vital tool that adds value by bringing together disparate information on 15 government bond market dealerships in an easily accessible format. This culminates a great deal of work that incorporates feedback from all market participants.”
“We envision the Handbook will become a customary source for anyone active in government bond markets. The Handbook will be distributed to all primary dealers operating in European government bond markets, including non-EPDA members. Additionally, in order to respond to the continual evolution of the market and systems we will update the Handbook annually,” said Mark Austen, managing director of the EPDA.
“This is one part of the tapestry of issues that our association is working on to bring added benefits to our members. It also helps to meet our chief aim of achieving an integrated European financial market by making it easier for participants to access information,” added Austen.
