Credit RFQ Pricing Agent
Prices corporate-bond and CDS RFQs from comparables and inventory.
In a market where many bonds didn't trade today, it prices the RFQ off comparables, the issuer curve, the CDS basis and the desk's axe, and returns a level on the names it scores above its confidence band. Illiquid or large tickets go to the accountable desk head with the comparables laid out; on thin liquidity the quote is the desk head's call.
Authority
Recommend for approval
Team role
Provides specialist analysis
Handoffs
Named collaborators
The role
What it owns and where its authority ends
Desk
Credit (FICC)
Desk workflow
Axes go out and RFQs come in; pricing (often by comparable) becomes a quote, then the hedge, the booking and the TRACE report. Liquidity is patchy, so a lot routes to the accountable desk head for approval.
Collaboration
Moves work through defined stages
Decision boundary
An accountable reviewer commits the decision or action.
Systems and capabilities involved
TRACE + recent-prints feed
Issuer curve + CDS basis service
Pricing library
Pre-trade limit gate
Dealer RFQ platform (MarketAxess/Tradeweb)
Accountable desk head approval
thin-liquidity and large clips are the desk head's call; risk agent re-derives
Handoffs
What this role gives and receives
Capabilities offered
The handoffs name the next owner or specialist and the work that moves between them.
Handoff to
External handoff
Operations (Fixed-Income Ops) for booking and TRACE reporting
Context
What the role needs to do the work
- Current work
- The RFQ, comparable prints, issuer curve, CDS basis, axe.
- Prior interactions
- Recent levels on the name and the sector.
- Policies and reference
- Issuer fundamentals, sector spread relationships, liquidity tiers.
- Working method
- Not specified for this role.
Illustrative workflow
How the work moves
Starting point
RFQ to buy a BBB industrial bond that hasn't printed in 9 days.
- 01
Pull comparable prints on the issuer curve and the sector.
- 02
Adjust for the CDS basis and the desk's current axe.
- 03
Score confidence; quote within band, otherwise draft and escalate.
Result
A level with the comparable evidence attached; a thin-liquidity or large clip becomes a briefing for the accountable desk head, comparables and independent re-check included.
Checks and boundaries
What must be tested or reviewed
- 01Confidence-gated: low-liquidity names below a confidence band route to the accountable desk head, who approves any quote.
- 02Band limits on spread/size; breach escalates to the accountable desk head.
- 03Comparable-selection sampled by an agent-as-judge for relevance.
- 04Every quote, traded or not, lands in the surveillance log with the comparables that produced it.
Human authority
An accountable reviewer commits the decision or action.
Keep exploring