DirectBooks, the capital markets consortium founded to optimize global financing markets, announced that Scotiabank, Rabo Securities and Huntington Capital Markets have joined the DirectBooks platform. The addition of these dealers increases the sell-side participation to fifteen firms. The platform was launched in Q4 2020 with deal announcement functionality for U.S. Dollar Investment Grade issuances globally with the recent addition of Euro and Sterling deals in April 2021. Onboarding of additional underwriters and institutional investors will continue throughout 2021.

"DirectBooks is excited to welcome Scotiabank, Rabo Securities and Huntington, as we continue on our path to establishing a broad and diverse global community of underwriters," said DirectBooks CEO, Rich Kerschner.

"Scotiabank is committed to meeting the evolving needs of our clients and to providing a best-in-class client experience," said Paul McKeown, Managing Director and Head of U.S. Debt Capital Markets, Scotiabank. "We are pleased to have the opportunity to leverage this integrated solution from DirectBooks that advances the new issuance process, which will help us provide greater support for our clients."

"Rabo Securities is very pleased to join DirectBooks. We are constantly looking for innovative ways to support our clients, and this platform is a logical next step in the evolution of capital markets," said Jan Hendrik de Graaff, Head Investment Grade Capital Markets, Rabo Securities. "We're excited to offer institutional investors an enhanced service and new issuance experience."

"As the new issuance market continues to evolve, Huntington is committed to participating in solutions that simplify and automate processes for our clients," said Matt Milcetich, Executive Managing Director of Huntington Capital Markets. "We are excited to join the DirectBooks community to streamline the deal process and bring greater efficiencies to the primary market."

DirectBooks is simplifying the primary issuance process for fixed income by streamlining communications workflows for underwriters and institutional investors. The platform will continue to expand with the capability to optimize the communications of order and allocation information, hedging instructions and final deal documentation. High Yield and Emerging Markets issuances will be added to the platform later this year.