MarketAxess’s electronic trading platform aimed at dealing in credit default swap indices will launch by the end of 2005, the company said Wednesday.

The trading of credit derivatives is getting increasingly popular among the traders as last week a similar statement was released by rival Tradeweb which also said the trading platform would be launched in the second half of 2005. Both platforms will allow customers direct access to a dealing platform.

“Credit derivatives continue to play an increasingly important role in the fixed-income credit markets,” said MarketAxess chief executive Richard McVey. MarketAxess also said it is going to encourage trading growth by developing more standardised trade-processing procedures. The customers will definitely benefit from it and feel more comfortable holding the complex products, the company added.

MarketAxess works with 11 dealers, including global banking group ABN Amro. ABN Amro is a DTCC, an automated trade-processing provider. “We’re very much behind the commoditisation of CDS indexes,” said Paul Humphrey, global head of fixed-income e-Business at ABN Amro.