What Is the Association of International Bond Dealers (AIBD)?

The Association of International Bond Dealers (AIBD) is the former name of a professional association of bond dealers known today as the International Capital Market Association (ICMA). As of 2021, the members consist of over 600 financial conglomerates and institutions in 60 countries that actively trade bonds. The association makes suggestions pertaining to bond dealing rules to the regulators of various European, Asian and Latin American countries.

Understanding Association of International Bond Dealers (AIBD)

The Association of International Bond Dealers (AIBD) was formed in Zurich, Switzerland in 1969. The association publishes consolidated bond quotes and yields for the Eurobond market. The association was formed to promote better trading prices and conditions for the Eurobond market.

Eurobonds are currently issued through a group of international bond dealers known as a syndicate. One member of this syndicate may underwrite the bond, which guarantees the entire issue will be purchased. In addition, international bond dealers issue foreign and global bonds. Foreign bonds are offered by a foreign borrower to investors in a specific country and are denominated in that currency. Global bonds are denominated in the currency of the issuer but issued and traded outside that country.

International bond dealers play an increasingly important role in global capital markets as non-U.S. bond issuance of $13.3 trillion in 2016 represented two-thirds of all global bond issuance. As recently as 2006, the U.S. still accounted for more than half of global bond issuance. By 2016, emerging markets in aggregate issued more debt than the U.S. while Japan surpassed $2 trillion in issuance for the first time.

History and Expansion of the AIBD

In the 1980s, the AIBD was approved in the United Kingdom as an international securities self-regulating organization and recognized as a designated investment exchange for fixed-income trading. AIBD Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of the AIBD, opened in London to provide data services to the market, and in 1989 the AIBD launched TRAX, a transaction matching, confirmation, and regulatory reporting system.

In January 1992, the AIBD changed its name to the International Securities Market Association (ISMA). In July 2005, ISMA merged with the International Primary Market Association and changed its name to the International Capital Market Association (ICMA). In 2007, ICMA extended membership to asset and fund managers as well as insurance companies and opened associate membership to professional advisers including law firms and accountants.

Over the last decade, the association has expanded its presence by opening new chapters in the periphery of Europe (Greece, Turkey, and the Balkans as well as Ireland), Asia and Latin America.