The Handbook of Municipal Bonds

CHAPTER 21

i-Deal/Ipreo: The Transaction Platform

Allen Williams Executive Vice President & Managing Director Global Capital Markets Ipreo

 

 

 

Tailored software platforms have become critical and integral to the timely pricing and distribution of new issue municipal bonds and notes. Communication among underwriters during these phases for competitive and negotiated sales now depends upon sophisticated software platforms. The platforms are dramatically changing to improve the efficiencies. This chapter, written from the perspective of a software developer and vendor who specializes, traces this history and explains the specific processes in use as of mid-2007.

THE EVOLUTION OF NEW-ISSUE TECHNOLOGY

For over 25 years, i-Deal (now Ipreo, following its merger with UK-based Hemscott in December 2006) has been servicing the municipal broker-dealer new issue market. Throughout the development of Ipreo’s software offerings and numerous name changes (from Dalcomp to Thomson to i-Deal to Ipreo), its role as the primary provider to broker-dealers of new issue software has remained constant. The i-Deal/Ipreo municipal software system manages all aspects of the new-issue workflow for municipal securities—from bidding and origination through allocations and settlement, and all the stages in between. Since 2000, these software platforms have facilitated the raising of over $1 trillion in new issue capital in the global municipal markets.

The i-Deal/Ipreo municipal new issue platform traces ...