BAML hosts Instinct Loans charity event Tuesday

Reuters

Published Sep 27, 2016 10:58AM ET

BAML hosts Instinct Loans charity event Tuesday

By Kristen Haunss

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Merrill Lynch (NYSE:BAC) is hosting a charity event Tuesday, donating all commissions for transactions made through its electronic loan trading platform, Instinct Loans, to the Food Bank For New York City, according to an e-mail sent to market participants.

The Instinct platform allows multiple participants to bid on a specified number of loans during twice daily sessions. The bank held the first 30 minute session June 16.

BAML reached its first US$1bn of pure electronic trading volume on August 30, according to the September 19 e-mail to clients. The bank said in a Tuesday e-mail to market participants that 43% of inquiry to the system has resulted in a trade, including phone follow ups to electronically-initiated interest.

There was US$628bn of par, or performing, loan trades in 2015, down from a five-year high of US$647.3bn in 2014, according to Markit data.

With the contribution from the charity day, BAML will donate Thanksgiving pantry boxes, with a goal to provide thousands of meals to New York City’s neediest, the bank said in the September 19 e-mail.

“We appreciate our clients' support of Instinct Loans and are proud to support the Food Bank For New York City, which provides food for approximately 64 million free meals a year for New Yorkers in need,” said Brian Callahan, head of electronic initiatives and US par loan trading for global credit and special situations at BAML.