Banca di Roma, CDC Ixis, Crédit Agricole Indosuez and Unicredito Banca Mobiliare have become shareholders in CoredealMTS, Europe's electronic exchange for international credit trading.

The banks bought their stakes following an auction in which the International Securities Markets Association (Isma) sold its stake in the exchange. Isma set up Coredeal in 1999 with a view to trading corporate bonds electronically. Coredeal was sold to EuroMTS last year after it failed to gain sufficient market share.