BondAuction, the fintech platform that sought to reform price discovery in primary debt capital markets, has shut down after five years of operation, citing an inability to secure sufficient adoption from underwriting banks.

The London-based company, which developed technology enabling price discovery to one-tenth of a basis point in bond issuance, said structural barriers in the market proved insurmountable despite completing a successful live transaction.

BondAuction’s platform was designed to introduce greater transparency and competitive pricing to the syndicated bond issuance process while preserving the role of underwriters. The company completed one transaction with The Housing Finance Corporation, which it said validated its model.

However, the onboarding requirements for underwriting banks proved too burdensome to achieve broader market adoption, according to the company. While buyside investors and issuers expressed interest in the platform, banks’ reluctance to commit resources to integration ultimately stalled growth.

“We set out to solve a real problem, and we proved the solution worked,” said Spencer Maclean, co-founder of BondAuction. “The problem remains unsolved, and we hope the work we have done can inform whoever takes it on next.”

The closure highlights the challenges facing fintechs attempting to modernise established practices in institutional fixed income markets, where incumbent relationships and conservative operational cultures can impede technological change.