Icap, the UK interdealer broker, has become the latest to develop its own market-based indices. The move, which follows a flurry of similar initiatives, is designed to boost transparency and liquidity in the repurchase agreement or repo markets, where Icap holds a strong position.

Icap hopes the indices will lead to over-the-counter derivatives trading opportunities, despite the failure of a recent similar push. In March 2002, the European Banking Federation, the Brussels-based organisation that sponsored the development of the euro interbank offering rate (Euribor) benchmark, introduced the Eurepo index.