The official site of Italy's central bank

MTS and BondVision

The electronic wholesale market for government securities operated by MTS S.p.A. is open to participation, including remote participation, by intermediaries that satisfy particular minimum capital and professional requirements.

Participants are qualified as dealers or primary dealers. For purposes of public debt management, the Ministry for the Economy and Finance selects "specialists in government securities" from among primary dealers on the basis of more stringent requirements. Primary dealers undertake to operate as market makers, continuously quoting bid and ask prices for orders that are valid for all participants, while the role of dealers is limited to deciding whether or not to accept the quotes of primary dealers.

MTS has two segments, one for spot trades (MTS Cash) and one for repos (MTS/PCT). Since the end of 2002 a central counterparty service has been active on an optional basis, supplied by Cassa di Compensazione e Garanzia of Italy and LCH.Clearnet SA of France. Transactions in government securities on MTS are automatically routed for settlement to the Express II settlement system operated by Monte Titoli.

MTS S.p.A. also operates BondVision, another regulated wholesale market for government securities supervised by the Bank of Italy. BondVision permits participants qualified as primary dealers to trade euro-area government securities over the Internet directly with institutional investors (insurance and asset management companies) by means of a multiple price auction system.