Forex ECN FastMatch is reporting that volumes in its system decreased by 19% MoM from November, to average $13.8 billion ADV for the month of December.
We would remind LeapRate readers that November was FastMatch’s best ever month for FX trading volumes at $17.1 billion average daily volume, driven by volatility around the US election. November included FastMatch’s second best day ever on November 9, the day after the US election, at $38.0 billion.
Even given the normal seasonal slowdown typically seen around holiday time, December still lined up as FastMatch’s third best month of 2016.
FastMatch is jointly owned by retail forex broker FXCM Inc (NASDAQ:FXCM) and commercial banks Credit Suisse Group AG (ADR) (NYSE:CS) and BNY Mellon Corp (NYSE:BK). FXCM has been active monetizing assets to pay down its high interest loan from Leucadia National Corp (NYSE:LUK) – most recently selling its DailyFX research and news site to IG Group Holdings plc (LON:IGG) for $40 million. We believe that FXCM’s stake in FastMatch may be next on the block.