By Nyela Graham

21 Jun 2024

The consortium-born loan trading platform is adding tech partners and new protocols as it looks to launch CLO trading later this year.

On May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge opened in New York City. While a feat for its time, the suspension bridge was the first to connect the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn over the East River, and that concerned New Yorkers. Many were worried that the bridge would be unable to handle the weight of traffic and collapse.

Only a few days after the bridge’s opening, public trust and morale plummeted when a stampede was accidentally triggered by a woman falling down the stairs to the bridge. Not exactly a banner-worthy start.

Before the bridge opened, famed showman PT Barnum had volunteered his circus elephants to cross the bridge at its opening, but his request was turned down. The city needed him now. In 1884, a procession of 21elephants and 17 camels, led by Jumbo the elephant (the reported inspiration for Disney’s Dumbo), crossed the bridge without incident, showcasing the bridge’s strength and utility. Today, according to statistics from the New York City Department of Transportation,149,000 people and cars cross the bridge daily.

It’s the tale of Barnum’s elephants and the bridge that Octaura CEO Brian Bejile tells when reflecting on the growth trajectory of the loan trading platform, likening it to the story of getting any electronic trading platform off the ground.

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