A system and method are provided that preserve many of the advantages of traditional workups, including the ability to create a single deal extended in time, while avoiding aspects of prior art workup protocols that can be disadvantageous in particular trading environments and, particularly, avoiding the trading delays sometimes created by providing certain traders with exclusive trading privileges in highly-liquid, fast-moving trading environments. In a preferred embodiment, the present system comprises a distributed computer processing system programmed to provide a structured trading protocol that enhances trading efficiency and fairly distributes market opportunity to system users. More specifically, in a preferred embodiment, the present system is adapted to provide a plurality of workup phases each of which is designated a “public” phase and during which all trading is conducted on a first-come-first-served basis.