
Bilateral streams slash FX trading costs by 80%, dealers claim
Risk Live: FX dealers report 70% of spot traded in bilateral feeds, at least four times cheaper than RFQs and venues

The market for spot foreign exchange has largely shifted from traditional trading venues to bilateral streams, where transaction costs can be as much as 80% lower for large trades, dealers claim.
Srichakri Adhikarapatti, global head of electronic FX, rates and credit quant trading at UBS, says “upwards of 70%” of the bank’s spot FX business is now traded bilaterally via electronic interfaces known as APIs.
The primary inducement is price. According to David Leigh, global head of FX spot and
Only users who have a paid subscription or are part of a corporate subscription are able to print or copy content.
To access these options, along with all other subscription benefits, please contact customer services - www.fx-markets.com/static/contact-us, or view our subscription options here: https://subscriptions.fx-markets.com/subscribe
You are currently unable to print this content. Please contact customer services - www.fx-markets.com/static/contact-us to find out more.
You are currently unable to copy this content. Please contact info@fx-markets.com to find out more.
Copyright Infopro Digital Limited. All rights reserved.
As outlined in our terms and conditions, https://www.infopro-digital.com/terms-and-conditions/subscriptions/ (point 2.4), printing is limited to a single copy.
If you would like to purchase additional rights please email info@fx-markets.com
Copyright Infopro Digital Limited. All rights reserved.
You may share this content using our article tools. As outlined in our terms and conditions, https://www.infopro-digital.com/terms-and-conditions/subscriptions/ (clause 2.4), an Authorised User may only make one copy of the materials for their own personal use. You must also comply with the restrictions in clause 2.5.
If you would like to purchase additional rights please email info@fx-markets.com
More on Infrastructure
NSCC liquidity shortfalls raise T+1 concerns
Lagging FX settlement processes could become a problem for clearing houses
Does FX Spot+ add up for traders?
New CME venue aims to provide easier access to FX futures liquidity, but some worry about its stability in choppy markets
Tech firm OneChronos to offer ‘bundled’ equity-FX trading
New auction algorithms will optimise multi-leg trades; FX roll-out due in second quarter
Futures gain ground in G10 FX pricing
Some market-makers believe contracts are now primary market price for Commonwealth currencies
Development banks team up for FX hedging push
Banks such as EBRD and World Bank club together to improve emerging market funding tools
LCH expects to boost deliverable FX clearing with new adds
Onboarding of dealers and link-up with CLS could swell interbank deliverable FX clearing volumes
Bloomberg offers auto-RFQ chat feed – but banks want a bigger prize
Traders hope for unfettered access to IB chat so they can build their own AI-enhanced trading tools
Cross-currency futures could ease bilateral burden – CME
Quarterly €STR-vs-SOFR contract could be used by Stir desks to manage currency basis risk