Hotspot, a leading institutional Forex ECN owned and operated by BATS Global Markets (BATS), today announced plans to eliminate liquidity removal fees for customers in more than 30 select currency pairs, beginning June 1st, 2015.
The “Hot List” comprises a broad range of currency pairs that primarily trade in European and Asian time zones, including pairs containing the Russian Ruble, Chinese Renminbi, South African Rand, Turkish Lira and Scandinavian currencies. All new and existing customers of the platform, irrespective of where they are based around the world, and whether they access the New York or London matching engine, will be able to take advantage of this pricing, which will continue at least until year-end 2015.
Bill Goodbody, Jr., Senior Vice President, Foreign Exchange, at BATS said, “The creation of the ‘Hot List’ underscores our commitment to establishing vibrant and deep liquidity to the Hotspot market by bringing meaningful – and long overdue – price competition to the FX industry. Expect to see more pricing and operational innovation from Hotspot on behalf of our customers as we continue to grow.”
Hotspot is planning to further strengthen its presence in the European and Asian markets with the launch of a London matching engine later this year. The London matching engine will target specific currency pairs that are more active in Europe and Asia and will complement Hotspot’s New York-based matching engine to provide customers with two distinct pools of liquidity to drive price formation globally.
Last month, Hotspot announced its offering of free trading in spot gold and silver pairs for all customers as part of its “Free Gold” promotion. As with the “Hot List,” the “Free Gold” program will continue until at least year-end 2015.
Hotspot’s average daily volume in April 2015 was $28.4 billion, up from $25.2 billion in April 2014. Its diverse customer base of more than 220 clients includes banks, market makers, hedge funds and institutions.
BATS acquired Hotspot in March 2015. In addition to Hotspot, BATS Global Markets operates Europe’s largest stock exchange, the continent’s #1 trade reporting facility for equities, the second-largest U.S. stock market, and the fastest-growing U.S. options market.
For the official media release, click here.