Feature
Best professional e-trading venue: Hotspot FX
Hotspot FX wins the award for best professional e-trading venue, in recognition of surging volumes and a number of new initiatives aiming to appeal to different client segments
Best vendor for post-trade services: Traiana
Traiana wins the vendor category for post-trade services in recognition of the multiple initiatives it has launched to tackle the challenges experienced in the FX market
Vendor e-FX initiative of the year: CLS and Traiana
CLS Aggregation wins the vendor award, having become a crucial piece of the FX market infrastructure since its launch in January 2010
Bank e-FX initiative of the year: Société Générale CIB
SG CIB scoops the e-FX initiative award for Alpha FX, a single-dealer platform it began designing two years ago and launched in late 2010
Most innovative bank e-trading platform: JP Morgan
MorganDirect wins the award for innovation, having always sought to offer clients something more than just tight pricing, according to the bank's global head of e-commerce
Best trading technology vendor: Integral
Integral nails trading technology award in recognition of the increasing success of its cloud-based products in the FX market over the past year
Best electronic broker: EBS
Icap Electronic Broking has consistently introduced new innovations to meet the demands both of manual and high-frequency traders, says chief executive David Rutter
Best bank post-trade services: UBS
UBS wins the post-trade services award after investing heavily in CRM tools and prime brokerage over the past year as part of its preparation for new regulations
All in accord on high-frequency risks
In late June four prime brokers and six ECNs allied together in a major new initiative to better monitor and manage the risks posed by high-frequency trading in the FX market. What motivated the collaborative effort? Farah Khalique reports
FX Invest: Implications for collateralisation under new CCP model
Saima Farooqi looks at the wave of upcoming regulations relating to central counterparty clearing, and what it means for collateral management
FX Invest: Overlay Asset Management sticks with emerging markets
Overlay Asset Management’s Helie D’Hautefort talks to FX Invest about his firm's emerging markets strategies
FX Invest: New indexes trade volatility
Nikki Marmery reports on the emergence of indexes looking to trade event risk
FX Invest: Rise of the super-Sefs
The Dodd-Frank Act created a multitude of would-be swap execution facilities (Sefs) – trading platforms that will aggregate dealer liquidity. Now, dealers want to hoover up the Sefs by building their own aggregation services, but it’s a strategy that…
FX Invest: US dollar's time as world's reserve currency draws to a close
With the European sovereign debt crisis grabbing headlines, markets might be forgiven for overlooking the nearing end of a second round of quantitative easing in the US. Debate over its success raises deeper questions about the role of the US dollar as…
Hiring frenzy
After a typically busy hiring season during the first half of the year, Chiara Albanese takes stock of some of the biggest appointments and talks to headhunters about the trends driving FX recruitment in 2011
Trading platforms prepare for Sef arms race
As the CFTC prepares to close the consultation period on its Sef rulemaking next week, it is still unclear exactly what changes FX trading platforms might need to make to comply with the Sef criteria. How are the potential Sefs preparing? Chiara Albanese…
Retail FX platforms braced for further consolidation
The FDIC last week unveiled proposed margin requirements for retail FX transactions in the US in the latest sign of a clampdown on the retail segment of the industry. How is regulation changing the shape of retail FX? Farah Khalique reports
Closing the FX gender gap
As in much of the financial services sector, the upper echelons of the foreign exchange industry are male-dominated, but a number of market participants say opportunities for women are improving, particularly at the graduate level. Chiara Albanese reports
Social media finds a foothold in FX
Banks are evaluating the value that can be delivered to the foreign exchange business by investing in social media. What are the potential benefits and challenges of using such tools? Chiara Albanese reports
Dollar weakness: Passing fad or long-term reality?
The weakness of the US dollar has been a dominant theme so far in 2011, with many strategists predicting the currency will remain on a weak footing for some time. Miriam Siers speaks to currency strategists about the prospects for the dollar in the…
Multi-bank options platforms: the vision versus the reality
New platforms offering multi-bank FX options trading are finding it tough to manage the manual pricing processes of banks and the complex close-out arrangements inherent in options. Farah Khalique reports
Pure FX: Market or mirage?
Pure FX has been the subject of plenty of speculation since it was first mooted last year, but there is still little clarity over whether the project will come to fruition. Some banks and trading platforms say there is no need for the venture
Algo trading could benefit from Sef rules, say participants
Algorithmic trading has gained traction in the FX markets in recent years and some providers say their platforms might comply with the criteria for swap execution facilities in the US. Could they face a growth opportunity when the regulations come into…
Yuan: The only way is up
Four currency strategists explain why they expect the Chinese yuan to continue to strengthen against the dollar