Bond Traders Vanishing as Liquidity Evaporates
This article is for subscribers only.
Bond traders are vanishing as slumping fixed-income revenues deter the world’s biggest banks from making markets in Europe.
The average number of dealers providing prices for European corporate bonds dropped to a low of 3.2 per trade last month, down from 8.8 in 2009, according to data compiled by Morgan Stanley. The three largest U.S. banks -- JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. -- posted their worst combined quarterly trading revenue since 2011 in the fourth quarter, led by a 23 percent drop in fixed-income, currencies and commodities.