agora completes a series of multilateral pilot syndicated bond trades

By Joy Dumasia

agora Digital Capital Markets announced the successful completion of a series of multilateral pilot sessions of its syndicated bond product, a critical step in the development of the first truly end-to-end digital workflow for fixed income products through the agoraPlatform. 

The sessions, held over the last eight months, were the largest of their kind, showing the workability and readiness of the product to handle the complex challenges faced in the primary market by the world’s leading global and regional issuers and investment banks. Fourteen investment banks representing more than half of the market as measured by the 2021 SSA BookRunners League Table 5 SSA issuers and a significant infrastructure provider participated in a series of test benchmark deals (USD and EUR) run simultaneously. 

The agoraPlatform enables seamless interaction during the pre-issuance and launch of a new bond issue, including pricing indications, mandate, deal management, party synchronisation and creation of a digital term sheet and final terms. The platform synchronises all parties in the value chain in real-time using distributed ledger technology. The resulting innovative tool for capital markets professionals at issuers and banks saves time and captures essential data in a confidential and secure environment. This information will be directly available to service providers who operate and manage the post-trade life of a bond. 

Charlie Berman, Co-Founder and CEO at agora, said: “The success of these multilateral sessions emphasises the benefits of creating a minimum viable ecosystem of users to kick-start true digitisation in the primary issuance arena. The significant and tangible benefits of a process-enhancing, time and cost-saving tool were evident to all participants. We have greatly benefited from their input and suggestions, and will continue working with issuers, banks, lawyers and other service providers as we head towards live bond transactions.”