EBS Direct to provide relationship-based, disclosed liquidity.
ICAP-EBS, trying to play catch-up to competitors Thomson Reuters and FXall, has announced today the introduction of a new service called EBS Direct, to launch next month. Until now, all of EBS’s services have been provided as an anonymous ECN matching platform.
EBS claims to already have more than 100 customers signed up for the new service.
EBS’s announcement directly targets FXall, which recently surpassed EBS as the #2 Forex ECN, and which divides its business into relationship trading (its historical business), and anonymous ECN “active trading”. Indeed, FXall’s relationship trading accounts for about two-thirds of its revenue. FXall, of course, went public earlier this year and was then acquired by Thomson Reuters for $625 million.
Relationship, disclosed (non-anonymous) trading services are more appropriate for corporate customers and asset managers, who are typically looking for specific solutions to specific currency and timing issues. The anonymous ECN solution is more of a clearing solution for larger institutional players, including retail Forex brokers, which have a near-constant flow of trading.
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