Volumes were $109.7 billion in April, 11% lower than the previous month and down by 26% year-on-year. FX trading activity has been hit generally since the end of last year, but Icap continues to underperform its competitors by an increasing margin.
Icap has said the performance of EBS was affected by quieter market conditions and central bank policies in Japan and Switzerland, which have depressed activity in the yen and the Swiss franc, two currencies in which it is a market leader.
Other trading venues reported falls in volumes in April, reflecting the seasonal slowdown over the Easter period, but the declines were comparatively small.
Thomson Reuters reported average daily volumes on all of its spot FX trading services, of $130 billion, 5% lower than in March, and 6% less than in April 2011, while CME’s reported April FX volume figures down 5% year-on-year.
Volumes on Reuters have been steadily higher than those on EBS since November 2011.
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| Source: ICAP, Thomson Reuters, EuromoneyFXNews |
EBS has undergone a shake-up recently, which began with the departure of chief executive David Rutter at the beginning of March. Gil Mandelzis replaced Rutter has the new chief executive Later in the month, New York-based Brian Andreyko, global head of foreign exchange product development, and Chip Defilippo, FX product manager, left the firm.