Commerzbank broadens e-FX package with DealHub

Commerzbank has connected to FX Distribution Hub, a price distribution service created by London-based middleware provider DealHub. The service will allow the bank to price into any FX market venue from a single interface, with FX Connect the first venue to go live on the service. Other execution venues are expected to be added in the coming months.

"We want to continually improve our connectivity, expanding the range of electronic communication networks (ECNs) customers can use to access our liquidity. DealHub's FX Distribution Hub gives us all the benefits of co-location and optimised latency, with the ability to add new venues very rapidly. This flexibility means we can react quickly to a fast changing ECN landscape, while keeping our internal resources focused on ensuring our customers receive our best prices, wherever they want to trade," says Nick Downes, global head of e-FX sales at Commerzbank in London.

FX Distribution Hub was formerly launched in November 2012, and DealHub says 10 institutions are now using the service. However, Commerzbank is the first user to be publicly named.

"We are delighted to add Commerzbank to our FX Distribution Hub – it joins a growing list of banks, from top-tier price makers to regional specialists, using the service to cut the cost and time to market for multi-venue price distribution. We've spent years perfecting our trading interfaces to optimise pricing performance, taking the trouble to understand the nuances of each venue. Now, our customers are taking advantage of all of this connectivity and expertise via one simple interface to the hub," says Chris Leaver, chief operating officer at DealHub in London.

The hub's service is located within Equinix's LD4 and NY4 facilities, and there are plans to launch an Asian version of the hub in the coming months, with DealHub understood to be in discussion with a number of potential clients. Leaver says banks are beginning to realise the benefits of having a managed service for their connectivity to multiple FX venues.

"We're seeing a real increase in e-commerce investment from banks, with firms looking to refresh their technology stack, speed up their time to market and connect to a wider range of venues. This has been a big growth engine for our business this year. FX Distribution Hub combines this focus on e-commerce with the other big theme in the market - a move to managed services, which we're also seeing in our post-trade straight-through processing business. Banks are increasingly looking to reduce technology cost and complexity by partnering with organisations that can provide the right expertise, flexibility and resiliency," he says.