The Financial Times wrote over the weekend about the accelerating shift among major FX banks to automate their trading activities to their respective electronic platforms. The banks mentioned were UBS, whose popular Neo platform garners 65% of total trading volume for the bank. Also, Barclay’s Barx platform, which is 4th in bank electronic trading market share and was noted as one of the earliest adopters of automating FX operations.
This further news of the impetus to encourage trading on electronic digital platforms among FX banks co-insides similarly with electronic brokering giant ICAP’s decision back in April to seek quicker transition from its forex voice brokers to a version of its electronic-trading platform EBS.
Maybe the pressing trend has accelerated a bit due to FX manipulation probes on benchmark rates and thoughts to cut any liabilities of human error. But, it obviously also has to do with efficiencies in automated trading and directing clients to perform transactions digitally, while brokers can focus more on the sales and consulting aspect of the job.
FT quoted Sassan Danesh, managing partner at Etrading Software, a consultancy group, he said: “The days of voice trading are numbered, even for larger orders.
“But there is a difference between electronic trading and zero touch. There will still be sales people talking to clients.”
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