Three big banks join OPUS-5
Bank of America, Credit Suisse and UBS would join a consortium of investment banks that have set up a platform to trade unregistered securities.
The announcement could jeopardise the existence of similar platforms set up by individual banks, such as the GS TrUE system launched by Goldman Sachs. The consortium platform was initially set up by Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Bank of New York, which acts as administrator of the system.
Members said others would likely join the platform because it would provide the most liquidity for trading and thus attract the greatest number of listings. Members of the consortium had initially hoped to trade unregistered, or 144A, shares on a system being developed by Nasdaq, called Portal, but decided it was taking too long to become operational.
The consortium announced its initiative, known as the Open Platform for Unregistered Securities or OPUS-5, after Goldman signed up Oaktree Capital, the hedge fund group, and Apollo Management, the private equity firm, to sell unregistered shares through its GSTrUE system.
Source: Financial Times
Date: 14.09.2007 [ID: 91]