However, Deutsche Bank’s DBFX platform, formally announced on May 15, appears to herald a new phase.
Deutsche’s move has got tongues wagging about which bank will be next. Gossip suggests it will be UBS, which has been working with Cognotec, if rumours are to be believed, to build a front end for the retail sector.
However, according to Fabian Shey, global head of FX distribution at UBS, the rumours are off the mark. “UBS is the largest private bank in the world and the private client segment has always been an important part of our business,” he says. “UBS is expanding further in this area and is hiring more private client advisers, who also look after them in FX. Private clients look at FX in three ways. As a product to invest in, as a means to hedge their overseas exposure and some are actively trading to generate real returns.”
Shey says that the wealth of UBS’s private client base ranges from relatively small to extremely large amounts. But even at the lower end of the range, a more apt description would be high net-worth individual than retail client. “Direct access to the market for these clients has generally been over the phone.