Institutional electronic FX platform FastMatch, jointly owned by retail forex broker FXCM Inc (NYSE:FXCM) and commercial banks Credit Suisse and BNY Mellon, saw trading volumes on its electronic currency platform leap by 25% during January 2016 to hit $11.8 billion ADV during the month.
January 2016 marked an important milestone for FastMatch. It was the first month in which FX volumes topped $10 billion ADV since 2014, as FastMatch tries to play catch-up with larger competitors FXall (owned by Thomson Reuters), EBS (a unit of ICAP) and Hotspot FX, recently acquired by BATS.
There have been M&A rumors swirling around FastMatch the past few months, mainly due to the fire sale of virtually all non-retail forex assets being undertaken by FXCM. FXCM is trying to pay down its $300 million loan from Leucadia as fast as possible to avoid punitive high interest rates which rise each quarter the loan remains outstanding.
