Nine of the largest dealing banks have invested $280m (€197m) to create a new platform for trading fixed income, derivatives and equities, the latest bid by a consortium of banks to boost competition between trading systems.

The banks, which include Credit Suisse, Deutsche, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS, have taken a minority stake in Thomson's TradeWeb, pledging $180m to extend the trading system's coverage of bonds and swaps, and $100m to additional asset classes, including derivatives and equities.