For its BondsPro Platform, MTS Turns to HTML5

MTS Markets chief executive Mark Monahan says the platform, which deals in US corporate and emerging market debt, has an enhanced GUI (graphical user interface) that has improved the speed of the system and allows for greater customization.

"We've made it pretty much the same [as the previous platform] except, given the fact that it's HTML5, it's demonstrably quicker," Monahan tells WatersTechnology. "You can also view [information] any way you want. So the two biggest concerns that people had are taken care of just because it's HTML5."

In addition to speed and customization, MTS has added color coding (in this case the color green) to represent "firm" liquidity where a trade is ready to be executed. And while it's still being tweaked, BondsPro will also employ a color-coding system to show the success of counterparty fills. If a counterparty has a fill rate of 95 percent or above, they'll receive one color, while 85 percent will receive another, 75 another, and so on. This will help users to better know which parties are more likely to honor a trade, and which ones are more likely to fade on orders.

Monahan says that it is important that the new HTML5 platform retained a similar look and feel to the previous one. BondsPro will retain an Excel-like layout, with real-time prices ticking away in the middle. At the top of the table are customizable price-panel tabs, allowing advanced users to drill down to view trades using greater specificity.

Using cut-and-paste, traders can take a column in Excel and simply upload those securities into BondsPro.

And a notification system on the right side of the screen, which has something of a Twitter-like feel to it, will allow traders that step away from their desks to view any trades that they may have missed or to see if someone has topped their bid or offer.

Finally, at the top of the page above the price-panel tabs are boxes that users can click to view "show my own orders only", "show my firm's orders", which is a watch list of orders specific to the trader's firm, and "alpha sort", which allows users to sort by issuer.

The Magic of HTML5

While the previous platform wasn't exactly slow, traders are a demanding bunch and with this rollout, load times are 10x faster than the Citrix-driven platform, according to Ron Wuaten, who joined the company from Bonds.com, which was acquired by MTS Markets a year ago.

Because it's built on HTML5, it's a native application and will be compatible with all modern browsers (such as Internet Explorer 10 and above) and mobile devices. Wuaten says that it only took two-and-a-half weeks to move just over 50 percent of the trading that was done on the previous GUI to the HTML5 GUI. In about another two-or-so weeks, they should be at almost 100 percent for any client who can and wants to convert.

Additionally, last week MTS BondsPro had more people logged on than ever before, something that Monahan believes illustrates the interest in the HTML5 performance enhancements. "It's very easy to deploy and the feedback has been very, very good," he says.

This rollout comes on the heels of MTS launching its BondVision platform, which deals in rates, in the US.