Refinitiv launch fixed income callouts in Albania

ALBANIA – Refinitiv, formally the Financial & Risk business division of Thomson Reuters, announced the launch of Fixed Income Callouts for Bank of Albania. Fixed Income Callouts is a flexible application that facilitates negotiations and agreements of fixed income bond trading terms within banks in Albania. The easy-to-use application, available on Eikon, improves price discovery, market monitoring, execution and market transparency.

The launch comes in line with Bank of Albania’s plan to develop the domestic securities markets and effectively manage operational risk. The application supports the Albania Ministry of Finance and Economy’s Market Maker Pilot Project to roll out a 5-year benchmark bonds aimed at growing the government securities secondary market. With the addition of Albania, Fixed Income Callouts is now live in eight countries including Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Uganda, Zambia, and Vietnam.

“Banks involved in the Market Maker Pilot Project have a right here and right now solution with Fixed Income Callouts. The application’s fast and simple implementation facilitates real time transactions and contributes to a more efficient and liquid secondary market. The application is user friendly and provides transparent, secure and real time trading venue,” says Suela Totokoci, Head of Treasury and ALM, Intesa Sanpaolo Bank, Albania.

“Electronic trading platforms and automated trading in the bond markets have the potential to reduce trading costs, enhance transparency through faster price discovery, and increase interconnectivity between participants,” said Antonio De Gregorio, Managing Director, Central and Eastern Europe, Refinitiv. “Fixed Income Callouts will ensure delivery of timely information, improved management of operational risk, and a faster dissemination of the secondary market prices in Albania. With electronic management of trade workflows, financial institutions can save time and reduce costs as they execute on their trade transactions.”

Fixed Income Callouts formalizes conversations currently performed over messaging platforms, or over the telephone, but with added record keeping, validation and controls. It provides a clear transaction trail and integration into the clients’ back office and market monitoring systems, while enabling better oversight and monitoring of trading activity by regulatory bodies.

The app provides trade confirmation tickets, trade downloads and the availability of real time post trade feeds direct into back office systems to support STP (Straight Through Processing) needs. Errors and delays are reduced, improving efficiency at all stages of the trade lifecycle and reducing operational risk. In addition to customer benefits, the app also provides regulatory bodies with a central view of transaction activity across the Albanian market, which is critical for regulatory oversight and monitoring.

About Refinitiv

Refinitiv is one of the world’s largest providers of financial markets data and infrastructure, serving over 40,000 institutions in approximately 190 countries. It provides leading data and insights, trading platforms, and open data and technology platforms that connect a thriving global financial markets community – driving performance in trading, investment, wealth management, regulatory compliance, market data management, enterprise risk and fighting financial crime.

Contacts

Tarek Fleihan
Communications
Refinitiv
+97144536527
tarek.fleihan@refinitiv.com