The Secondary Market for Government Debt - Framework

The secondary market for Portuguese Government debt underwent a profound change with the addition of two other recognised electronic platforms in 2010 increasing the competitiveness among the trading environment of the Portuguese Republic Debt. Apart MTS, were then accepted BrokerTec and BGC-eSpeed as recognised platforms to trade OT and BT.

Following this reform, the secondary market structure is based on three complementary segments: 

Regulated markets:

• Electronic platforms: the wholesale segment for specialists; 
  
  
• The retail segment, mainly for the trading of small lots and which is also a regulated market and where the majority of OT lines are listed – Eurolist by Euronext managed by Euronext Lisbon.

Non regulated markets:

• The Over-the-Counter (OTC) segment.

The creation of a multiple electronic platform environment led to a greater participation of non-resident investors and financial intermediaries, resulting in greater liquidity and turnover in the government bond market.

All government bonds (OT) and Treasury bills (BT) issued by the Republic of Portugal are admitted to trading on electronic platforms.

The larger OT have also been admitted to trading on Euronext Lisbon and they are also actively traded on the electronic platforms MTS, BrokerTec and BGC (former BGC-eSpeed).