BTM updates FX platform

The bank began implementing Cognotec’s AutoDeal+ solution in July and is currently testing the system, said Kenichi Nakao, senior manager in the foreign exchange and treasury division of BTM in Tokyo. BTM is updating to Auto Deal+ from Cognotec’s older AutoDeal Lite system, which went live at the bank in May 2001.

"The new product will have better functionality and will offer a better service level to our customers," said Nakao. New features include a function called multi-line trade, he added, which allows customers to send a number of trades to BTM simultaneously whereas prices can currently only be requested one-by-one.

AutoDeal+ will be used to trade foreign exchange spot and forwards as well as swap transactions, said Nakao. Approved customers will be able to trade through BTM’s single bank platform, FX@BTM or FXall, the international multi-bank platform based in New York.

BTM does not disclose trade volumes, but Nakao said that there are currently ‘hundreds’ of trades a day on AutoDeal Lite and this is expected to become ‘thousands’ once AutoDeal+ is installed.

BTM also considered online trading platforms from Reuters-AVT and Integral but opted for Cognotec because migrating to technology from another company would be too expensive and time-consuming, said Nakao. "We [BTM] are comfortable and satisfied with Cognotec, so we don’t have any reason to change," he added.

Other AutoDeal+ users include New York-based private bank Brown Brothers Harriman, although Cognotec recently lost Wachovia Bank as a client (FX Week, September 1).