Reuters takes Cognotec's top spot

The rise to the top was driven by the expanded client base that Reuters has achieved in the past few years. Since Reuters acquired AVT Technologies in December 2002, the merged companies' technology has continued to gain traction among the wider banking community. In the last two years alone, Reuters has picked up an impressive 40 new customers.

The majority of its new clientele has come in via its hosted service that Jas Singh, business development manager at Reuters in London, said is about making technology at an affordable level for all. With the dynamically evolving nature of the ecommerce space, having a scaleable platform has become ever more crucial, he added.

The company's success is underpinned by Reuters Electronic Trading - Automated Dealing (RET-AD), its bank-to-customer internet trading platform. RET-AD has not only been used as the basis for banks to serve clients, but also in alternative liquidity pools.

"What they are buying is more than just automated dealing technology," said Singh. "They are future proofing their electronic path."

A key indication of the widespread acceptance of the technology came at the end of last year when the China Foreign Exchange Trade System (Cfets), a subsidiary of the People's Bank of China, signed up Reuters to develop a global foreign exchange trading system for it and its member banks (FX Week, October 18, 2004).

Cfets launched the market in May this year deploying a customised version of RET-AD for the trading in non-renminbi crosses (FX Week, April 11).

Meanwhile, Reuters used the RET-AD as the basis of its buy-side initiative Reuters Trading for Foreign Exchange launched earlier this year (FX Week, May 30).