Traiana leads the algo trading pack

The industry knows the rise of algorithmic trading has tested the back office systems of most prime broking banks. So it’s surprising that more vendors haven’t decided to make a bigger push to capture this business opportunity in the same way Traiana has. Or if they have, they haven’t made much of a fuss over it.

Or maybe it’s a case of Traiana being a trend-spotter and getting in on the action early. The vendor was also the brains behind the extremely successful Harmony network, which automates post-trade process in FX and derivatives. The network is used by more than 50 prime brokers, dealers, and investment managers as indication of its broad acceptance.

So where’s the next wave of growth, and who’s doing what to capture it? Retail FX. In FX Week we have been providing coverage of some of the initiatives being adopted by banks to capture the flows from this fast-growing client segment. There’s been discussion about how best to get involved, from building your own platforms, white-labelling a platform or making an acquisition.

Banks such as Deutsche Bank and ABN Amro have launched their own platforms with help from existing online trading platforms FXCM and Oanda. In fact, last Friday (June 29) creditors of the defunct futures broker Refco should have received initial bids for the 35% share owned in online currency trading platform FXCM since October 2005. This has however been postponed to July 16. So far it is understood that Lehman Brothers is one of the banks seriously bidding for it.

On the platform side, it seems some of the electronic communications networks want to play a bigger part too. Some already have initiatives in the area. It’s no secret that FXCM Pro and Currenex have strong links. Hotspot FX has its Hotspot FXr platform, meanwhile both also give liquidity out to retail margin trading platforms. And it seems more is being made by these and other vendors. But more on that later...

Comments? Contact: saima.farooqi@incisivemedia.com