Infrastructure
LMAX management team buys majority stake from Betfair
Management buyout will give LMAX Exchange the necessary flexibility to evolve into a leading FX venue within three to five years, says chief executive David Mercer
Spotlight on: Mark Spanbroek, European Principal Traders Association
The EPTA’s vice-chairman and secretary-general talks to Robert Mackenzie Smith about the association’s mission to represent the interests of high-frequency traders to regulators, legislators and the market in general
ADS Securities targets HFT with new FX platform
New platform white-labels FlexTrade's systems and is pitched to high-frequency and high-volume traders
EBS a ‘natural fit’ for ClientKnowledge, says CEO Trenner
EBS has acquired FX advisory firm ClientKnowledge and chief executive Justyn Trenner will become global head of EBS liquidity optimisation services
Thomson Reuters revamps Matching platform
Thomson Reuters has made a string of changes to its flagship trading platform, enabling greater depth of book in four of its most liquid currency pairs
Questions remain on clearing and collateral
While confirmation of the US Treasury exemption came as a welcome development last month, further issues must be resolved in the coming months on the clearing of FX options and margin for uncleared trades
Icap pushes into disclosed FX liquidity with EBS Direct
The launch of relationship-based pricing through EBS has attracted support from 19 named liquidity providers and will bring the platform into direct competition with ECNs and technology vendors
FX Week Europe: Aggregation here to stay, say tech providers
The growing fragmentation of trading venues and liquidity streams means the demand for aggregation is as strong as ever, say speakers at FX Week conference
Denmark’s Jyske Bank to roll out Progress/Caplin FX platform
Jyske Bank is implementing a new single-dealer platform for FX, based on technology developed by Progress Software and Caplin Systems
Confirmation of US Treasury FX exemption brings relief to dealers
After two years of consideration, the US Treasury confirmed its decision to exempt FX swaps and forwards from mandatory clearing and exchange trading on Friday evening
DealHub tackles platform proliferation with distribution product
New hub routes pricing from banks to ECN, multibank portal, single-dealer platform, aggregator and customer APIs through a single interface
CLS adds Swedbank as a settlement member
The Swedish bank is the latest bank to become a settlement member of CLS, after Lloyds was added in September 2011
Bloomberg to offer FX options after six-month pilot
The vendor's FXGO platform is the latest in a long line of electronic platforms to add FX options ahead of forthcoming regulatory requirements for electronic platform trading
EBS to move EUR/CHF away from decimalisation
Icap's EBS will complete the transition back to half and full-pip pricing on November 26 as data suggests the change has enhanced the depth of liquidity on the platform
MarkitServ and Traiana prep pre-trade credit hubs
Post-trade technology providers are vying to build a pre-trade hub that will provide certainty of execution and clearing under new regulation, to be rolled out for rates, credit and FX within months
Banks rethink clearing structures under CFTC pressure
CFTC rules on conflicts of interest mandate clearer separation between OTC clearing and execution, prompting some banks to restructure their operations
No need to panic about collateral supply, says Bank of England
Isda estimates that mandatory clearing and margin could require the posting of up to $30 trillion of initial margin have been inflated, not least because of a likely exemption for FX swaps and forwards, according to a senior BoE official
Buy side weighs risk mitigation against clearing costs
Buy-side firms look certain to bear some of the costs that result from mandatory central clearing, with some suggesting they might look to clear non-mandated products, were it not for the prohibitive costs
Basel proposal to capitalise settlement risk ‘unnecessary’
In comment letters published this week, banks have taken issue with Basel Committee guidance that would capitalise post-execution exposure to settlement risk
Banks face up to fragmented clearing landscape in Asia
In preparing for mandatory clearing, the priority is to ensure all CCPs across Asia adhere to the same set of standards, says Deutsche's David Lynne
Hotspot FX takes a hit from Hurricane Sandy
A power outage at Knight Capital's New Jersey headquarters yesterday forced Hotspot FX to request that clients divert business to other platforms
TraFXpure accelerates as three more banks sign up
Bank-backed spot platform now has the support of nine banks as it reveals further details of its matching logic, which it believes will eliminate technology and latency arbitrage opportunities
CLS aims to double currency coverage by 2022
New chief executive David Puth answers the pressure on CLS to add to its 17 currencies by setting a goal of doubling its coverage over the next 10 years
Spotlight on: David Puth, CLS
As newly appointed chief executive of CLS, FX industry veteran David Puth has a job on his hands to expand and improve the utility’s capabilities, currencies and participation to take it to where regulators and the industry need it to be. In his first…