[ by Melanie Gretchen ] Goldman Sachs, while expanding the size and scope of its bank subsidiary, has also launched a new electronic trading platform for corporate bonds - "GSessions."  Goldman debuted its new platform in June, after spending a year in development. The new trading platform seeks to bring investors together to trade at specific times, company officials said, and specifically will enable firms to trade corporate bonds in large volumes.  Goldman has set low fees rates for execution of electronic trades in order to attract hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds and other large investors. The Direction of Bond Trading. While bond trading has traditionally been a great source of revenue, obstacles posed by the Volcker Rule and other recent regulations have caused banks to hold smaller inventories of corporate bonds.  This has left dealers with less flexibility to step up to buy or sell corporate bonds whenever their customers need to trade, prompting new avenues of revenue.  Goldman is responding to that by planning at the outset to organize a pair of trading sessions twice a week.  Based upon demand, the firm may increase the frequency of those sessions. So far, 33 Goldman customers have conducted 39 trades over 4 sessions, trading bonds with a total face value of $150 million. A New Trend. Goldman is not the only financial firm developing or aiming to develop a proprietary electronic trading network - each aiming to link buyers and sellers of corporate bonds.  We therefore should see the number of platforms increase markedly, but then be followed by a shakeout - with the weaker players dropping out and the survivors taking on additional business.  Yet, as the electronic platforms compete with one another, they also will compete with Wall Street dealers, who serve as middlemen in corporate-bond trades. Besides lower costs, bond investors will appreciate the opportunity to trade directly with their counterparties, rather than through middleman dealers.  Yet, for all the advantages offered by these electronic trading platforms, it's expected that the bulk of trading will continue to be done via its regular channels - e.g., over the phone. It remains to be seen how the corporate bond market evolves.  The influence of the Volcker rule will have an impact, but to what extent only time will tell. For further details, go to [WSJ, 6/27/12].