Staff Reports
All-to-All Trading in the U.S. Treasury Market
Number 1036
October 2022 Revised November 2024

JEL classification: G10, G23, D47

Authors: Alain Chaboud, Ellen Correia Golay, Caren Cox, Michael J. Fleming, Yesol Huh, Frank M. Keane, Kyle Lee, Krista Schwarz, Clara Vega, and Carolyn Windover

Although the U.S. Treasury market remains the deepest and most liquid securities market in the world, several episodes of market dysfunction over recent years have brought the market’s resilience into focus. The adoption of all-to-all trading in the Treasury market could be one avenue to strengthening market resilience. Conceptually, all-to-all trading would allow any market participant to trade directly with any other market participant. This could be helpful in times of stress when the capacity of traditional intermediaries may be tested. In this article, we discuss what all-to-all trading would mean for the Treasury market, the benefits it might bring, and what can be learned from the experience of other markets. We also review several trading protocols operating in the Treasury market that widen the field of trading partners and discuss the challenges to the broader use of such protocols or to the adoption of new all-to-all protocols.

Available only in PDF
Author Disclosure Statement(s)
Alain Chaboud
The author declares that he has no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this paper. Prior to circulation, this paper was reviewed in accordance with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York review policy, available at https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/index.html. Use of TRACE data was subject to review by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Inter-Agency Working Group for Treasury Market Surveillance (members of which include the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission).

Ellen Correia Golay
The author declares that she has no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this paper. Prior to circulation, this paper was reviewed in accordance with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York review policy, available at https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/index.html. Use of TRACE data was subject to review by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Inter-Agency Working Group for Treasury Market Surveillance (members of which include the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission).

Caren Cox
The author declares that she has no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this paper. Prior to circulation, this paper was reviewed in accordance with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York review policy, available at https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/index.html. Use of TRACE data was subject to review by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Inter-Agency Working Group for Treasury Market Surveillance (members of which include the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission).

Michael Fleming
The author declares that he has no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this paper. Prior to circulation, this paper was reviewed in accordance with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York review policy, available at https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/index.html. Use of TRACE data was subject to review by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Inter-Agency Working Group for Treasury Market Surveillance (members of which include the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission).

Yesol Huh
The author declares that he has no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this paper. Prior to circulation, this paper was reviewed in accordance with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York review policy, available at https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/index.html. Use of TRACE data was subject to review by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Inter-Agency Working Group for Treasury Market Surveillance (members of which include the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission).

Frank Keane
The author declares that he has no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this paper. Prior to circulation, this paper was reviewed in accordance with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York review policy, available at https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/index.html. Use of TRACE data was subject to review by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Inter-Agency Working Group for Treasury Market Surveillance (members of which include the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission).

Kyle Lee
The author declares that he has no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this paper. Prior to circulation, this paper was reviewed in accordance with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York review policy, available at https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/index.html. Use of TRACE data was subject to review by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Inter-Agency Working Group for Treasury Market Surveillance (members of which include the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission).

Krista Schwarz
The author declares that she has no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this paper. Prior to circulation, this paper was reviewed in accordance with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York review policy, available at https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/index.html. Use of TRACE data was subject to review by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Inter-Agency Working Group for Treasury Market Surveillance (members of which include the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission).

Clara Vega
The author declares that she has no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this paper. Prior to circulation, this paper was reviewed in accordance with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York review policy, available at https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/index.html. Use of TRACE data was subject to review by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Inter-Agency Working Group for Treasury Market Surveillance (members of which include the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission).

Carolyn Windover
The author declares that she has no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this paper. Prior to circulation, this paper was reviewed in accordance with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York review policy, available at https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/index.html. Use of TRACE data was subject to review by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Inter-Agency Working Group for Treasury Market Surveillance (members of which include the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission).
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Statement. You can learn more about how we use cookies by reviewing our Privacy Statement.   Close