How Bonds Change Hands – Inside the UK’s Secondary Debt Market

Not so long ago, if you wanted to buy or sell a bond, you picked up the phone, whispered a few numbers, and hoped the other side didn’t hang up. These days, the market hums digitally – faster, cleaner, quieter. But while the method has changed, the money, as ever, moves in mysterious (and legally enforceable) ways.

There’s something fascinating about how a few lines of code now move trillions in corporate debt each year. And now, thanks to a new deep dive from the International Capital Market Association (ICMA), we’ve got the clearest picture yet of how that silent machinery works.

Its European Secondary Market Data Report – H1 2025 (Corporate Edition) draws on MiFID II and MiFIR transaction data covering over 80 per cent of market activity – revealing who’s buying, who’s selling, and where transparency is (or isn’t) shining through.

So, how is the UK bond market behaving these days? Let’s take a closer look.