e-Forex Magazine April 2011

 

Unintended consequences - An industry united but under threat

Leader

The largest and most liquid over-the-counter (OTC) market in the world, that plays a fundamental role in the global economy and underpins the entire financial system, is under threat of regulation in the US and in Europe. The proposed changes could have serious unintended consequences for the FX industry, which is united in its efforts to explain to the regulators why the FX market should be treated differently. ...show more

 

E-Commerce - Capabilities and Practices

e-FX Industry Report

During the second half of 2010, Lepus conducted a market research exercise, funded by Caplin Systems, assessing the current e-Commerce capabilities and practices at a variety of investment banks. The survey was designed to reveal where e-Commerce is being successful, where it’s not and what the future trends are most likely to be. The survey was partly statistical, with 30 responses from various types of trading firms around the world. The numeric research data was supplemented by a series of in-depth one-on-one interviews, which provide further anecdotal support to the conclusions. In this article Mike Hill explores some of the more interesting findings, concentrating on FX. ...show more

 

Once more - G-20, EMIR and Dodd Frank

Foreword

During the weekend of February 26th to 28th 2011, the Italian traders of ASSIOM FOREX met in Verona for their yearly meeting. More than a thousand participants listened to the speech of Mr. Draghi, Governor, Banca d’Italia, when he presented his views on economic policies, the planned international financial rules and controls, the Italian banks and the Bank of Italy’s supervisory action and market growth. Besides interest from the audience regarding Axel Weber’s drawback from the ECB candidateship, the participants very carefully weighed up every word spoken regarding the latest regulatory developments....show more

 

Choice and Flexibility reaping the benefits of more integrated FX e-Commerce services

Features

With the growth in e-FX continuing unabated, Frances Maguire talks to a few leading e-FX providers to discover how they are catering for a much wider and more diverse client base....show more

 

Taking a more holistic approach to the business of FX Liquidity Management

Features

Liquidity distributing banks are looking to build more holistic liquidity management systems that are able to cater for a faster, more diverse, more complex and more competitive marketplace. Nicholas Pratt examines some of the challenges involved and the ways they can be resolved....show more

 

A commitment to excellence meeting regional demand for FX Prime Brokerage services

Features

As FXPB continues to grow, Frances Maguire speaks to a selection of leading FX prime brokers to see how they are catering for regional demand and expanding services to meet the diverse needs of new and established clients worldwide....show more

 

Skipping the middle man will you be joining the FX ECN party?

FOCUS

Nicholas Pratt explores why increasing numbers of both Retail and Institutional FX traders are being attracted to the transparency, speed, as well as trade execution and cost benefits of ECN trading platforms....show more

 

Leveraging flexible Network Architectures for high speed FX

Forex Technology

In most walks of life excessive speed is dangerous and should be avoided. However, in the ultra-competitive world of high performance FX trading, speed is vital and can mean the difference between capturing a trading opportunity or missing the boat entirely. Anything that hinders the fastest possible execution of a trade can cost some firms their competitive advantage. With this in mind Roger Aitken explores how leveraging more flexible network architectures can serve to aid those involved with high speed FX trading....show more

 

Technology: unlocking the power of FX Market Data

Forex Technology

With FX transaction volumes and associated data rates seemingly spiralling, the issues facing large, medium and small sized trading firms in the FX space would appear undiminished. Handling and exploiting the situation fundamentally requires a critical evaluation of systems, IT architectures and budgets. Roger Aitken canvasses industry opinion on how technology is helping to unlock the power of FX market data. ...show more

 

Opportunistic FX algorithms - striking the right balance with trade execution strategies

Algorithmic FX Trading

Nicholas Pratt examines how opportunistic third generation FX algorithms can now provide firms with more effective implementation of their trading strategies....show more

 

FX Mythbusters

FX Mythbusters

e-Forex invites Tom Higgins, CEO of Gold-i, a leading retail FX trading systems integrator, to talk about the company’s Gold-i Gate Bridge solution, which will help to dispel some of the most common misconceptions about MT4....show more

 

Closing the FX gap

Viewpoint

Squared Financial Services Ltd (SFSL) launched its platform in 2005. At that stage, electronic trading especially on the FX side was changing rapidly. Like many asset classes in the electronic space - both OTC and Exchange based, FX was becoming more efficient and user friendly at a rapid pace. The origins of this transformation predate the NASDAQ ECNs by many years, and as it accelerated eventhough the equity and futures markets adopted transparent centralized trading more completely, it could be argued that FX, due to its range of products, trading models and participants was approaching true global price discovery more rapidly....show more

The MetaTrader 5 Trading Terminal goes mobile!

Retail e-FX Provider

In January 2011, the mobile version of the MetaTrader 5 Client Terminal for iPhone was officially released. The innovative nature of this release is obvious - this is the first mobile terminal release for the MetaTrader 5 platform. Now any MetaTrader 5 user can trade on the go. Traders can view the history of trades and quotes, access the trade server and conduct trade operations from anywhere in the world. ...show more

 

Regulation, transparency and risk: meeting the need for more flexible FX Margining configurations

Retail e-FX Provider

Regulation, transparency and risk all combine in today’s electronic foreign exchange market to add complexity for those working in this area. With this in mind, Heather McLean takes a look at how the market is meeting the need for more flexible FX margining configurations....show more

 

MT5 – widening the horizon for all Forex traders

Retail e-FX Client

MetaTrader 5 was launched late last year by MetaQuotes Software, following three years of painstaking development. It is a complex software for online trading and is designed to facilitate brokerage services to customers in Forex, CFD, Futures, as well as Equity markets. Now that this new platform has started to stir up a lot of attention in the world of online FX, Heather McLean examines some of its key features and explores ways that it differs from its much-lauded predecessor, MT4....show more

 

Henyep Capital Markets: Focused on delivering best-of-breed online trading services

Broker Study

e-Forex talks with Marios Chailis, Marketing Director of the HENYEP Group, a diversified financial conglomerate with over 35 years of operational history in the global financial markets. The HENYEP Group is the parent company of leading UK based financial services provider Henyep Capital Markets....show more

 

Meeting your investment objectives with the Mirror Trading concept

Traders Workshop

Mirror trading is a relatively new method in automated trading that enables traders to ‘mirror’ strategies developed by experienced Forex traders which can help them improve their trading performance and meet their investment objectives. Greg Hay, co founder of Tradency, a company offering Mirror trading, outlines how by using the mirror trading technology, traders can copy or track trades from 3rd party traders, which can be system developers, manual traders or financial institutions. ...show more

 

Having coffee with a true FX visionary

e-Forex Interview

Its Thursday, February 3rd, 2011 on the shores of Lake Zurich and a crisp winters morning. I’m on my way for a 9:15am slot with Richard Olsen, co-founder of OANDA Corporation. As I rush out of the train at Zurich’s Hauptbahnhof, I call to say I am running a little late. “Take your time,” Richard reassures me like an old friend. “I am sure to be busy in the meantime.” I immediately feel much less guilty and somewhat at ease, even more eager to meet Richard Olsen now. Just a short tram ride from Zurich’s Paradeplatz and Bahnhofstrasse I arrive at Olsen Ltd, sublimely nestled on the shores of Lake Zurich. Olsen Ltd is located half in a black steel and glass building and half in an attractive old red and yellow bricked mill connected by a glass footbridge. Waiting for me and beaming is the Chairman of one of the worlds most successful retail forex brokers, OANDA. I feel immediately at ease. A palpable sense of understatement pervades this place, as if proceeding humbly. The Chairman appears and ushers me across the glass bridge into the old mill building into a meeting room that is more old art school than forex broker and fund establishment. Richard scurries out to fetch me a coffee and I am immediately impressed with a sense of an intellectual, cerebral world here, far away from places like Paradeplatz, Wall Street and the Square Mile yet quietly rather powerful. “I’ve lived in within a few blocks of here all my life,” states Richard. We begin our interview and I have much to learn about the many and varied activities taking place within Olsen Ltd....show more

 

Quaesta Capital AG: Mixing product quality and service excellence with the flavour of Switzerland

Tradertalk

e-Forex talks with Thomas Suter, CEO of Quaesta Capital AG, a FINMA regulated financial services provider, based in Switzerland, with a strong focus on FX....show more

FX on Exchanges

FX on Exchanges

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Velsys – 10 to the minus 6

Sponsored Statement

The FX market is evolving, following the equities and futures markets, into one where a significant amount of business is conducted via APIs. Whether achieved via an aggregator or via the programs developed by the users of APIs, the Best Bid Best Offer (BBBO) model naturally becomes ubiquitous. Therefore, market makers need to focus on how quickly their liquidity is presented into a particular “market”. Put simply if your price is traded in an open marketplace, you need to be sure it’s not because the market moved against you, i.e. prices moved faster than you could respond....show more