Financial markets infrastructure services – wholesale: Bloomberg

During the past 12 months, Bloomberg has demonstrated a clear and consistent commitment to advancing efficiency, transparency and simplicity across financial markets and central bank operations.

The infrastructure provider’s electronic matching solution, BMatch, has brought improved order-book functionality and price discovery to markets such as Nigeria and Sri Lanka, while an enhancement to its auction system has redefined how sovereign issuers manage and execute complex debt operations.

“Bloomberg is well-recognised for the support we provide our clients worldwide,” says Paul Hopkinson, FXGO product manager at Bloomberg. “Our focus is on reducing operational risk, improving transparency and improving the efficiency of workflow for market participants.”

B-match

Sri Lanka and Nigeria, whose central banks have embarked on major modernisation efforts, are the two most recent markets to adopt Bloomberg’s BMatch solution for interbank trading in the local spot foreign exchange market. Bloomberg is also working towards onboarding a further three markets, although since these initiatives have not yet been officially launched, the US technology and information services company is unable to publicly disclose their identities.

BMatch allows anonymous orders to be placed into a central limit order book. They are displayed and matched with counterparty orders based on mutual trading limits and other parameters configured by each bank. This structure promotes more efficient market functioning and contributes to improved price discovery.

“We are pleased to partner with Bloomberg at this critical phase of the FX market reforms being undertaken to enhance the price discovery process,” says Omolara Omotunde Duke, director of financial markets at the Central Bank of Nigeria. “The BMatch provides a robust oversight function for the central bank’s market surveillance activities and delivers better transparency on the prevailing market-determined exchange rate.”

BMatch is adaptable to different countries’ market structures and regulatory frameworks. It supports the full trade life cycle, from pre-trade price transparency, through execution to post-trade straight-through processing. The platform can be integrated with banks’ middle and back-office systems, with consolidated trade statistics from these banks made available to the market.

“BMatch provides a spot matching solution that is integrated as part of FXGO, and can be tailored to the needs of each community,” says Hopkinson. “Its adoption by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Foreign Exchange Market of Sri Lanka underscores Bloomberg’s role as a trusted vendor in modernising financial systems and supporting sustainable market growth worldwide.”

While BMatch has been operational for several years, implementing the platform across diverse markets continues to present logistical challenges. In Nigeria, for example, the rollout involved more than 30 banks, each with differing levels of technical sophistication. 

“Implementation of BMatch requires a high degree of co-ordination and preparation between the central bank, market participants, and Bloomberg as the solution is often adopted by everyone on an agreed date,” says Hopkinson. 

Another key challenge is ensuring correct integration across all stakeholders. 

“This often means integrating BMatch into the central bank or some form of central repository so that all trades executed by the community are captured in a single place,” says Hopkinson.

In parallel, Bloomberg works closely with individual commercial banks to meet their specific operational needs.

“Low-usage banks may be comfortable with manual processes, while more active institutions often require fully automated straight-through processing,” says Hopkinson. “Working with banks that have different levels of technical expertise can be challenging, but it is essential to ensure everything comes together seamlessly for a successful launch.”

Switch auctions

Bond switches are a widely used tool for governments and debt management offices seeking to improve market liquidity and smooth repayment profiles. A switch operation involves the simultaneous sale and purchase of government bonds combined into a single transaction, eliminating the need to run separate buy and sell auctions.

This workflow has now been incorporated in the Bloomberg Auction System, resulting in significant efficiency gains.

“With the changes introduced by Bloomberg, we are now able to clearly specify that we are executing an exchange auction without the need to further interact with our primary dealers manually,” says Nuno Coelho, head of markets and portfolio management at Portugal’s Treasury and Debt Management Agency. “The system is also adapted to other formats of bond exchanges, providing us with greater flexibility should we opt in the future to execute different auction formats.”

The enhancement has also delivered meaningful benefits to Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance, which has faced limited access to external financing since the outbreak of war in 2022.

“Bloomberg has been very supportive, and we had the platform up and running within a week of the war starting,” says Alla Danylchuk, head of investor relations at the ministry. “Switch auctions, which we have just started using, help us run our debt management function more smoothly, allowing us to manage liquidity more effectively and save money that can be directed towards Ukraine’s most urgent needs.”

Andrew Beacham,  global head of emerging markets trading product at Bloomberg, says the feedback of the new enhancement has been overwhelmingly positive.

“It’s been a lot of work to get this far – implementation of switch auctions requires close co-ordination between auctioneer and  primary dealers to make sure they understand the new functionality – but our clients really appreciated the efficiency and cost savings this brings. It has been very exciting for us to see this,” says Beacham.

The Central Banking Awards 2026 were written by Christopher Jeffery, Daniel Hinge, Daniel Blackburn, Joasia Popowicz, Levente Koroes, Thomas Chow, Jono Thomson, Riley Steward and Blake Evans-Pritchard.