ICAP’s EBS losing ground to FXall and Thomson Reuters in the FX ECN business.
With competitors showing mixed results in what is usually a slow December FX trading season, ICAP’s EBS unit reported its lowest monthly volumes since 2005 (!!), at $91.8 billion (average daily volume) 12% off last month and 4% below last year December.
EBS’s new management, led by Gil Mandelzis, has been actively taking steps such as launching a disclosed-liquidity service, EBS Direct, which would directly compete with FXall’s Relationship Trading unit, and acquiring ClientKnowledge, a London-based liquidity optimisation firm specialising in FX. Time will tell if the trend can be reversed…
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