Best Banks Awards: UBS
UBS has been voted the winner of the Best Bank for Swiss Franc category at the 2018 FX Week Best Banks Awards
At the height of the eurozone crisis in 2011, the Swiss National Bank took the radical step of installing a minimum exchange rate floor in EUR/CHF in a bid to stem the Swiss franc’s upward move as investors fled to the safety of the currency. The floor was scrapped in January 2015, causing a wide shock to foreign exchange markets.
“From a liquidity standpoint there has been a gradual normalisation since 2015, but conditions can still be challenging at times, as we briefly saw in the second quarter of this year on the EUR/CHF rally back above 1.20,” says Philip Bear, global head of G10 FX and spot precious metals at UBS.
Earlier this year, Switzerland held a referendum on the Vollgeld initiative, which sought to fundamentally change the role played by banks in the Swiss monetary system by looking to limit the amount of lending they can conduct, and leaving the creation of money in the hands of the central bank alone. The proposal was rejected overwhelmingly by the Swiss people.
The announcement of the referendum led to broad-based franc selling, but local corporate demand for the currency limited the move down, Bear says, leading to improved liquidity conditions. This year, UBS, which maintains a significant electronic-trading presence through its single-dealer platform, Neo, has been concentrating on refining its sales coverage and risk management capabilities.
…we have rolled out a new pricing model in e-FX, which has enabled us to strengthen our API franchise, while our single-dealer platform, Neo, continues to win industry awards
Philip Bear, UBS
UBS has been voted the winner of the Best Bank for Swiss Franc in the 2018 FX Week Best Banks Awards – a trophy it has held since 2010.
“We’re in a very good place now to meet client needs in terms of our sales coverage model between high-touch advisory and execution,” says Bear.
UBS maintains a global team of experienced voice traders for larger tickets and high-touch clients executing with it on a principal basis. But, the bank has also invested in its technology this year, rolling out a new pricing model in FX that allows the dealer to expand its footprint in the API client base.
“On the trading side, we have an experienced voice team, focused on large-ticket execution and risk management, and we have rolled out a new pricing model in e-FX, which has enabled us to strengthen our API franchise, while our single-dealer platform, Neo, continues to win industry awards,” Bear says.
Machine learning
In the algo space, UBS launched Orca-Direct this year, which uses machine learning to source the best liquidity across multiple external venues for immediate market orders.
“It has been well received by clients and builds on our strength in more passive order types,” says Bear.
“We have a very diverse flow mix in the franc, given our strong wealth-management platform, in addition to local corporates, and we’d like to think that we remain the go-to bank for [the] Swiss franc for our global institutional clients as well,” he adds.
Interviews with the 2018 FX Week Best Banks Awards winners
Best Bank Overall for Foreign Exchange Dealing
Best Bank for FX for Banks
Best Bank for FX for Investors
Best Bank for Spot FX
Best Bank for FX Forwards
Best Bank for EUR/USD
Best Bank for USD/JPY
Best Bank for EUR/JPY
Best Bank for E-Trading
Best Bank for FX for Corporates
Best Bank for Currency Options
Best Bank for Structured Products
Best Bank for FX Prime Brokerage
Best Bank for FX in North America
Best Bank for Emerging European, Middle Eastern and African Currencies
Best Bank for FX Research and Strategy
Best Bank for FX in Asia-Pacific
Best Bank for Renminbi
Best Bank for Emerging Asian Currencies
Best Bank for FX in the Eurozone
Best Bank for Australian Dollar
Best Bank for GBP/USD
Best Bank for EUR/GBP
Best Bank for FX in London
Best Bank for Swiss Franc
Best Bank for FX Post-Trade Services
Best Professional e-Trading Venue
Best Vendor for Dealing Technology
Best Broker for Forward FX
Best Broker for Emerging Markets FX
Best FX Clearing House
Best Broker for Spot FX
Best Market Data Provider for FX
Best Bank for Scandinavian Currencies
Best Bank for South African Rand
Best Bank for African Currencies excluding ZAR
Best Bank for Canadian Dollar
Best Bank for Emerging Latin American Currencies
Best Vendor for Risk Management/Options Pricing Software
Best Prime-of-Prime House
BGC (no interview)
Best Broker for Currency Options
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.
You may share this content using our article tools. Printing this content is for the sole use of the Authorised User (named subscriber), as outlined in our terms and conditions - https://www.infopro-insight.com/terms-conditions/insight-subscriptions/
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. Copying this content is for the sole use of the Authorised User (named subscriber), as outlined in our terms and conditions - https://www.infopro-insight.com/terms-conditions/insight-subscriptions/
If you would like to purchase additional rights please email info@fx-markets.com
More on Awards
Asia FX Awards 2024: The winners
The FX Markets Asia FX Awards present 43 categories, determined by an esteemed judging panel comprising industry experts and FX professionals across Apac. They have paid attention to firms that brought unique and innovative ways to fulfil industry needs…
Best blockchain technology service provider: Talos
By building a robust ecosystem with a blueprint based on traditional asset classes, Talos has attracted a network of the most important institutional players to its digital asset trading platform
HSBC wins six Apac FX house of the year awards
With one of the strongest footprints in the Asia-Pacific region (Apac), HSBC provides international clients with an extensive local FX franchise while facilitating local clients’ access to international markets
Best FX prime broker and Best compression/optimisation service for FX: HSBC
With one of the largest FX networks worldwide – and strong coverage in Asia and other emerging markets – HSBC’s FX prime brokerage remains a strategic partner to key financial institutions
Best aggregator and Best FX analytics provider: oneZero
oneZero continues its rapid growth as FX brokers, banks and non-banks in Asia and beyond benefit from the advanced features its multi-asset trading and analytics technology provide
Firms seek optimisation gains as UMR and SA-CCR bite
A wider range of market participants is taking advantage of service providers such as OSTTRA’s optimisation cycles to drive margin and counterparty credit risk efficiencies across asset classes including FX, rates, equities, commodities and credit
Best FX overlay manager: State Street
In the most challenging market environment in many years, demand for State Street’s currency management offering spiked in 2022 as market participants sought assistance in minimising their FX risk and optimising their hedging activities
Best settlement initiative: CLS
Created 20 years ago to mitigate FX settlement risk, CLS continues to lead the settlement sphere with new solutions designed to meet the challenges of an ever-evolving FX market