Infrastructure
Mifid explained – an introduction
Chris Pickles, chair of the Mifid Joint Working Group in London, discusses the implications of the directive on foreign exchange
State Street acquisition of Currenex sends shock waves
BOSTON – US bank State Street's decision to acquire FX trading platform Currenex for $564 million has sent shock waves through the industry.
Currenex builds out order types
LONDON – Currenex has released version 9.0 of its trading software, which sees the inclusion of advanced order types.
PVB goes live with Misys cross-asset system
MANILA – Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB) has gone live with cross-asset processing system Misys Opics Plus for its FX business.
Rivals are set to gain from merger of French brokers
LONDON – The announcement of a proposed merger between Société Générale's Fimat and Calyon Financial has already prompted some staff to start looking for alternative employment, say market sources.
FXMarketSpace to spur consolidation
WESTBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – FXMarketSpace will facilitate consolidation in e-FX, according to Robert Iati, partner at research and advisory company TABB Group.
EBS pushes out netting service
LONDON – EBS has begun rolling out its new netting service to prime broking banks, after completing a pilot with ABN Amro.
BNP Paribas overhauls e-business
PARIS & NEW YORK – BNP Paribas has overhauled its electronic foreign exchange business as it looks to establish itself as a leading player in the arena.
Consolidation is the key theme
The theme of consolidation in the brokerage industry continues this year, with Société Générale and Calyon confirming exclusive negotiations to merge their brokerages Fimat and Calyon Financial. But what happened to all that talk about consolidation in…
ABN Amro cuts back London forex staff
LONDON – ABN Amro has made cuts to its London FX team, resulting in the departure of John Marley, European head of sales.
FXall volumes surged 45% in 2006 on growing market
LONDON – Trading volumes on multibank platform FXall surged 45% in 2006, with over $9.8 trillion traded on a single-count basis.
India pledges to pursue a less restrictive FX strategy
MUMBAI & HONG KONG – Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh issued a statement last week, confirming the country's commitment to gradually move towards a less restrictive forex regime.
UBS beefs up its PTS Services post-trade system
NEW YORK – UBS enhanced its post-trade services last month, introducing a number of added capabilities to its post-trade processing portal, PTS Services Portal.
A flying start to 2007
GLOBAL – The year is off to a flying start as currency markets opened with a healthy level of volatility last week, said traders.
May 2006 - Currenex launches CX SmartOrder
LONDON – Currenex an-nounced plans to move into algorithmic trading with the launch of CX SmartOrder, a platform that enables customers to use a number of standard models or to create their own.
August 2006 - FXall to launch anonymous platform
NEW YORK – It emerged in August that FXall was looking to launch an anonymous trading platform to target both buy-side and sell-side market participants. The multi-bank portal sent details to banks outlining how the new platform was set to work.
March 2006 - FXall agrees to sell 20% stake to TCV
NEW YORK – FXall agreed to sell a 20% stake to private equity firm Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV), based on an overall valuation of $300 million for the company, sources told FX Week .
October 2006 - Bank of China broadens CLS horizons
HONG KONG & BEIJING – Bank of China (BoC) became a shareholder in CLS Group, as the world's largest emerging economy took another step towards integration into global capital markets.
December 2006 - EBS moves into netting following Traiana deal
LONDON – EBS is to establish a netting service to enable prime customers to net trades with their banks, as the spot broker looks to adapt to the changing landscape.
July 2006 - NAB saga heads towards closure
MELBOURNE – The final chapter of the National Australia Bank (NAB) trading scandal unearthed in 2004 drew close to its conclusion in July, with the last two forex options traders jailed.