Tradeweb Markets, a provider of fixed income, derivatives and ETF marketplaces, launched an electronic over-the-counter (OTC) marketplace for U.S.-listed exchange traded funds (ETFs).

"We have introduced a very efficient way of trading U.S.-listed ETFs electronically, leveraging our technology and network to support a competitive and liquid over-the-counter marketplace," said Enrico Bruni, Managing Director and Head of Europe and Asia Business at Tradeweb Markets. "Building on the success and growth of our European ETF platform, we're pleased to offer our institutional clients a new level of transparency, flexibility and efficiency in the way they trade U.S.-listed ETFs."

As institutional OTC trading of ETFs continues to grow, greater pre-trade price transparency, operational efficiency and access to institutional-size liquidity is essential for market participants. Tradeweb clients can now trade with 11 leading liquidity providers, and benefit from:

-Access to all U.S.-listed exchange traded funds, including fixed income ETFs, and European-listed ETFs, -Aggregated pre-trade price transparency from liquidity providers, and exchange pricing with National Best Bid and Offer (NBBO),

-Request for Quote (RFQ) trading with up to five dealers for one- and  two-way price quotes, -Risk and NAV trade types,

-An automated workflow with seamless connectivity to third-party and proprietary systems,

-Electronic audit trails for compliance and best execution reports.

"The Tradeweb ETF platform offers a new channel for liquidity and enhances our suite of execution capabilities," said Chris Hempstead, head of ETF sales for KCG. "The platform represents a novel approach to improving price discovery as well as an innovative way to execute larger-size trades, while reducing the risk of materially impacting pricing."

"Leveraging electronic solutions to streamline over-the-counter trade workflows is an important step forward for the ETF industry," said Leland Clemons, Managing Director at BlackRock iShares. "The combination of a robust exchange traded marketplace with an electronic, transparent OTC market delivers institutional investors choice in how they access liquidity.  Building on the success of their European platform, we see the new Tradeweb U.S. ETF platform as a further example of how industry leaders are embedding the ETF technology at the heart of their innovation and growth agendas."*