Electronic trading in government bonds has advanced rapidly, with new protocols, data capabilities and automation reshaping execution desks. Speaking to Trader TV, Tradeweb’s Rodérick Joniaux and Nawel Khelil discuss the evolution of government bond trading and how new market participants, enhanced liquidity tools and shifting market structures are influencing buy-side execution strategies.
Joniaux, head of European government, supranational and covered bonds, and Khelil, co-head of EMEA sales, highlight growing demand for flexibility in execution. This includes the use of time-release automation tools, no-, low- and high-touch trading options, and expanded multi-asset coverage. Looking ahead, they point to continued innovation driven by artificial intelligence, regulatory changes such as the move to T+1 settlement, and the emergence of tokenized government bonds.
Interview
Josephine Gallagher – We’ve seen huge progress and advancements in government bond electrification over the years. Where are you seeing advancements in protocols and routing tools make the biggest impact on execution desks? Roderick, we’ll start with you.
Rodérick Joniaux – When our first Euro Gov (Euro government bond) trade happened 25 years ago we only had a handful of banks connected. We now have 50 liquidity providers and more than 500 clients trading with them every quarter, while the volume and the number of trades have more than doubled just in the last five years. So one area of real innovation for me would have been cross-product functionalities. The conversation has moved from if you should trade electronically to how do you use a trading venue to execute more efficiently across products, across currencies. So, for example, we had a client the other day that used packages of bonds, swaps, inflation, products and futures contracts all on the same day using various functionalities such as bond basis, invoice spread, or, again, our multi-asset package tool. And I would add that we are also innovating by linking our institutional and wholesale liquidity pools together, basically allowing buy-side traders to interact with the liquidity that would have been left over from our interdealer matching sweep session, basically meaning that liquidity never goes to waste.
Josephine Gallagher – Nawel, where have you seen the biggest impact?
Nawel Khelil – So on the client side, we’ve seen new participants reshape how the market is trading. Hedge funds have become more active, and central banks have stepped back as we’ve moved from quantitative easing to quantitative tightening. And each client has slightly different needs, and so flexibility in terms of how trades are rooted or priced is essential to allow them to trade according to their strategies. One recent example has been portfolio trading moving into the rate space after its success in credit. Traders are able to send European governments (bonds) or Gilts (UK government bonds) to be priced in competition and get better net pricing, as well as more efficient risk management. Another example is the growth in trade at close activity, which is supported by the Tradeweb FTSE closing prices.
Josephine Gallagher – And so traders have to consume vast sums of data, and they’re under a lot of pressure to make decisions faster. This against the backdrop of all-time markets, global uncertainty, and noisy news cycles. So how can traders cut through the noise and make better use of signals?
Nawel Khelil – So we see this every day, traders are drowning in information and are short on clarity, and the biggest challenge that our clients are facing is not collecting the data, but really making sense of it, and also trying to act on it. At Tradeweb, data is really at the core of everything we do. In October, 2025, our average daily volume was $2.8 trillion, and this large market activity allows us to surface patterns, whether it’s how liquidity is behaving around Central Bank events or how bid offer spreads are reacting to volatility spikes. We’ve been able to help clients by embedding analytics directly into their execution workflow across the trade lifecycle, so from pre-trade with real-time, indicative, and firm streaming prices and access to execution with real-life quotes into post-trade, with the feedback loop into our transaction cost analysis tool. So data is really reshaping the way people are trading. It’s improving execution, and it’s also changing how liquidity is formed and distributed.
Josephine Gallagher – And so, Roderick, we know that traders on trading desks are making big progress and trying to improve their automation footprint, while others are also at the stage where they’re just trying to improve the value of their trades over quantity. So what are some of the interesting use cases you’re seeing emerge?
Rodérick Joniaux – We first launched our automated solution called AiEX back in Europe in 2012 in the sovereign bond space. But it still continues to grow significantly. So in 2020 about 40% of the euro gov trades were automated from the client side. This year this number is about 75%. So the initial use case, which was for us to help clients manage the growing number of small tickets efficiently, works so well that clients are starting to ask us for more asset classes, larger trade sizes, as well as for the flexibility over how and when to send trades at specific times. For example, at month end or at the end of the trading day, for example, using time-release features. And the feedback that we’re getting is that clients are now also using automation to optimize their execution quality and to diminish their operational risk. So really, we’re seeing automation becoming something much more strategic. Now we had the Fast Money clients telling us the other day that while they started to use our solution just to save time with small tickets, they’re now using it two years later to unlock new trading strategies.
Nawel Khelil – So from the client side, we’ve seen them become like more confident to automate larger tickets or less liquid asset classes. We might see clients merge several line items of the same ISIN and release them automatically when market conditions line-up. What we’ve also seen is that clients are able to retain as much control as they need to, because our technology offers them the flexibility from no touch to low touch and high touch. And I think today, automation isn’t just about doing more, it’s about doing better, and it gives clients precision, consistency, and also the ability to use human judgment when it’s required.
Josephine Gallagher – And so finally, what’s next? In a space that’s already seen so much progress and electronification, where it is ripe for innovation and growth.
Nawel Khelil – I think some of the trends are here to stay, and that linking the asset classes, as well as linking the liquidity pools, we’ve also seen diversification in terms of liquidity providers. So there’s been the introduction of non-traditional liquidity providers, specifically in the rate space, they can price more trades, more tickets. Then on the traditional dealer side, growth of algo desks, and these desks are now able to price larger tickets than before. I think automation will continue to evolve for sure, clients still need pre- and post-trade data, so that’s going to continue, as well as enhanced analytics. And I would say last but not least, we need to mention AI and the impact that’s going to have on better efficiencies across the trade life cycle.
Rodérick Joniaux – We also seen changes in the market structure and the regulation space, so we are getting ready for T+1 settlement with the UK, the EU, and Switzerland, having all agreed to transition in October 2027. As well as for the new transparency regimes for bonds and derivatives, we should bring even more real-time data to the market, as well as, for the first time, consolidated tapes. And we also closely watching development in the DLT space, and especially the rise of tokenized government bonds. You know, we think that ultimately DLT could enable around-the-clock liquidity and potentially a near risk-free settlement, which will really transform the way sovereign debt markets function from issuance to settlements. So really, to see, you know, where we came from in terms of electronification, 25 years ago, as we said, we’re only a few participants to where we are now. It’s pretty exciting to see how much you know about innovation and opportunities that are still waiting ahead of us.
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