Cognotec top tech provider

Howard Tolman, managing director of Cognotec in London, said the changing pace of the market means high-quality technology is in demand. "There are more and more portals moving into this area and this shows which direction the business is going in. Some of these firms are even providing more agnostic models, accessible to hedge funds and prime brokerage. As a result, people can leverage higher and another tier of customers can enter trades."

But Tolman said the company could not rest on its laurels and needed to remain in "intelligent positions", by continuing to improve the functionality of its systems. "It is paramount that we remain relationship-driven if it want to stay top vendor. We will not succeed otherwise," he added.

A notable feature of this year's survey is the emergence of banks as technology providers. More banks are offering outsourced platforms for trading FX to their customers, and the lines between liquidity provider and technology provider are becoming increasingly blurred.

In this environment, voters nominated UBS, Saxo Bank – a technology specialist – and Deutsche Bank as top providers, after Cognotec and Reuters.