Winners of the FX Week 2019 Best Banks Awards

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FX Week is delighted to announce the winners of the FX Week 2019 Best Banks Awards, which were presented on November 20 at a reception at the Royal Lancaster in London, following the FX Week Europe conference. We would like to congratulate all of the winners on their achievements.

As we approach the end of 2019, whether you’re a bank, investor, corporate, technology vendor or platform provider, there is a sense that foreign exchange is entering a new epoch of technological innovation, geopolitical uncertainty and regulatory scrutiny.

The market is booming. Overall trading volumes in FX markets rose to a global daily average of $6.6 trillion this year, up 30% on the $5.1 trillion reported in 2016 by the Bank for International Settlements.

But with that uptick in business comes new issues as the industry continues to feel the impact of regulation. The world of FX is already adapting to the new era ushered in by the FX Global Code, as well as regulations such as the second Markets in Financial Instruments Directive.

In addition this year, providers of FX prime brokerage services have voiced concerns that the non-cleared margin regime will raise costs for their services through the mandatory posting of initial margin to both clients and executing brokers, possibly driving trades into the cleared environment.

Looking ahead, the possible inclusion of spot FX contracts within the scope of the Market Abuse Regulation is set to be problematic to monitor and could overlap with the Code.

Meanwhile, FX is dealing with a rapidly evolving market structure in both execution and post-trade processes. Differentiation among dealers is being measured in terms of their electronic trading capabilities and the development of algorithms. At the front end of the business, clients are increasingly turning to algo execution in a meaningful way after years of slow adoption.

Customers have also been getting more from their banks this year than ever before, in terms of technology and services on top of execution and liquidity. Buy-side clients in particular are seeking deeper relationships with core liquidity providers in terms of workflow and best execution. And there is increasing penetration of blockchain technology in the form of distributed ledgers.

All this is set against a backdrop of FX volatility remaining relatively subdued, despite political tensions, the continued rise of populist parties in Europe, and a trade war testing the world’s two largest economies of China and the US. Meanwhile, there are signs of a slowdown in global growth, further central bank easing efforts and, at last, an end in sight to Brexit – or at least to this first, initial phase of Brexit.

So, there has been much for the industry to contend with and currency markets will no doubt offer up more challenges in 2020.

The winners of this year’s FX Week Best Banks Awards:

(click on the links to read the interviews with the winners)

Best bank overall for FX                                                

JP Morgan

Best bank for FX for banks                                            

JP Morgan

Best bank for FX for corporates                                    

Citi

Best bank for FX for investors                                       

JP Morgan

Best bank for spot FX                                                   

JP Morgan

Best bank for FX forwards                                             

Citi

Best bank for currency options                                    

Citi

Best bank for FX structured products                           

Citi

Best bank for prime brokerage                                     

JP Morgan

Best bank for FX in London                                           

JP Morgan

Best bank for FX in North America                                

JP Morgan

Best bank for FX in the eurozone                                  

BNP Paribas

Best bank for FX in Asia-Pacific                                     

HSBC

Best bank for EUR/USD                                                 

Citi

Best bank for USD/JPY                                                  

Citi

Best bank for EUR/JPY                                                

Citi

Best bank for GBP/USD                                                

Barclays

Best bank for EUR/GBP                                                 

HSBC

Best bank for Swiss franc                                              

UBS

Best bank for Australian dollar                                     

ANZ

Best bank for Canadian dollar                                       

Bank of Montreal

Best bank for South African rand                                  

Standard Bank

Best bank for African currencies, excluding ZAR            

Standard Bank

Best bank for Scandinavian currencies                          

Danske Bank

Best bank for emerging Emea currencies                     

HSBC

Best bank for emerging Asian currencies                                   

HSBC

Best bank for emerging LatAm currencies                                 

Banco Santander

Best bank for renminbi                                                            

HSBC

Best broker for spot FX                                                             

EBS

Best broker for forward FX                                                       

Refinitiv

Best broker for currency options                                              

BGC

Best broker for emerging markets FX                                        

BGC

Best prime-of prime house                                                      

ABN Amro

Best bank for FX research and strategy                                     

Citi

Best bank for post-trade services                                             

NatWest Markets

Best bank for e-trading                                                            

JP Morgan

Best professional e-trading venue                                            

360T

Best vendor for risk management/options pricing software       

Kace

Best vendor for dealing technology                                          

360T

Best FX clearing house                                                             

CME

Best market data provider for FX                                              

Bloomberg