FX tabs
OVERALL WINNERS
CLIENT SERVICE AND SUPPORT
TRADING
TECHNOLOGY
GEOGRAPHIC
ETHICAL BUSINESS PRACTICES
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Through the breadth of its market liquidity, product scale and global footprint, UBS has built a strong reputation as the partner of choice for its institutional, retail, corporate and wealth management client base. Most recently, UBS has been evolving its FX trading platform based on four key principles: agility, resilience, scalability and comprehensiveness. The result of this sustained focus has been the development of new trading capabilities, such as market-making on firm trading venues and developing access to streaming swap liquidity. UBS has also invested heavily in pre- and post-trade analytics to deliver market insights and improve execution outcomes for clients as part of its ‘FX Engine Room’ offering of sales and analytical toolkits. As of 2024, across the bank’s various FX businesses, it daily trades over $125 billion electronically with more than 2,500 clients across the globe. -
TP ICAP has been making significant progress in transitioning from traditional voice broking to a more integrated electronic and voice broking model. The company’s multi-asset liquidity platform, Fusion, has been at the forefront of this evolution, especially since the launch of its FX options platform, FXOhub in 2020. Since the platform's inception, TP ICAP has seen an impressive increase in volumes and market share in FX options. From being ranked fourth or fifth, the firm has climbed to a consistent second place, occasionally securing the top spot.
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CLS has been steadily expanding and refining its services to meet the diverse needs of the foreign exchange industry, with a strong emphasis on reducing settlement risks and boosting operational efficiency.
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The low volatility conditions observed in FX markets over the past year have posed challenges, with market makers facing spread compression and reduced turnover. Despite these obstacles, JPMorgan has maintained a high level of performance. The firm has consistently ranked highly across multi-dealer channels. Additionally, JPMorgan continued to expand its dominance in the FX options market, further solidifying its reputation as a top player in the space.
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By April 2023, CME Group had become the largest centralized FX venue globally, according to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). BIS data shows that more volume is now traded in CME Group FX futures than on the two primary OTC spot markets combined. The group also recently realigned its FX futures, options and EBS cash markets business to create a single FX business, in a bid to further boost client service, increase efficiencies and enhance product development across the entire FX marketplace.
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NatWest Markets (NWM) treats its FX Prime Brokerage (FXPB) business as a distinct growth focus as opposed to an ancillary service, with significant investment in the business to ensure it can provide high-touch, high-service offerings. Combining the freedom of having a proprietary platform with an appetite for developing client solutions has resulted in a suite of solutions that are used for different client types. While most FXPB banks use the market standard FXPB agreement, NWM has developed six distinct FXPB models. These models can be combined to address a broad selection of client types ranging from prop traders through to agency brokers and FX platforms.
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Capitolis’s financial technology platform aims to unlock capital constraints for its clients by providing access to diversified capital and investment opportunities. Recognising significant inefficiencies in bank-held derivative portfolios, Capitolis works with clients to reduce risk, increase stability, and improve capital efficiency. With that aim, over the past year, Capitolis has introduced several strategies that have significantly enhanced its foreign exchange novation business.
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Global fintech oneZero Financial Systems aims to continuously improve the liquidity-neutral eco-system that it developed on behalf of its clients. Its primary goal is to empower clients with transparency throughout the entire trade lifecycle, including throughout the partner framework that allows oneZero clients to access value-added services.
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Over the past year, 360T has made significant progress in transforming the FX swaps trading landscape, driven by strategic investments in its Swaps User Network (SUN). One of the most notable advancements was the launch of streaming mid liquidity via application programming interface (API), enabling banks to trade FX swaps at the market midpoint through automated processes – an industry first, paving the way for auto-hedging, aggregation and even algorithmic execution. The introduction of this feature has enhanced banks' ability to better serve their clients while also improving their own trading operations.
Banks
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HSBC has established itself as a leader in the corporate foreign exchange space by continuously developing innovative solutions. The bank provides liquidity across a range of channels and has consistently ranked in the top three on external platforms with a heavy corporate presence.
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Over the past year, Barclays has developed its offering for real-money clients, notably through enhancements to the performance of its online FX trading channel BARX, enhancing spot liquidity and boosting algo flexibility. Using client feedback and behaviour analysis, Barclays also broadened and refined its algo suite, which significantly benefits real-money customers. Barclays offers market-leading insights, especially on UK policy and politics, and maintains tight spreads around economic events. Additionally, Barclays led client discussions on T+1 settlement, reinforcing its role as a key thought partner and strengthening client relationships.
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State Street is a global powerhouse in FX and has positioned its research as a key differentiator in its market-leading sales offering. Over the review period, the bank introduced new measures for monitoring political risk and improved its capturing of changes in investor and central bank behaviour.
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TD Bank Group (TD) offers a comprehensive retail foreign exchange service across North America, providing currency rates, payments, and banknote products around the clock through over 2,000 branches. This includes 14 FX centres in Canada, where customers can access over 50 currencies either by pre-order or on-demand.
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UBS expanded its FX sales capabilities by leveraging cutting-edge tools and platforms to enhance operational efficiency and client engagement.
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State Street views FX as primarily a relationship-driven business and its investment focus reflects this partnership with its clients. As a principal FX business, State Street offers clients multiple execution choices with comprehensive electronic pricing capabilities, including a suite of dynamic algorithms and analytics tools, competitive benchmark solutions coupled with automated rules-based workflows.
Technology providers
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Capitolis continues to develop innovative technology solutions for institutional clients aimed at enhancing the safety and stability of the FX market as a whole. The company’s flagship product, the Capitolis Novations platform, is the only FX novation platform available and has had a significant impact. By automating the novation process for market participants, including prime brokers, banks and hedge funds, Capitolis has optimized FX options portfolios, reducing risk and capital footprint while driving operational efficiencies for clients.
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Software as a service (SaaS)-based treasury and risk management solutions provider GTreasury had a successful year, marked by a proactive focus on driving operational efficiency, cost savings and enhanced risk management for corporates through its comprehensive FX management solutions.
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In just five years, FX HedgePool has swiftly transformed from a single-product provider to a multi-service platform, serving over 40 major financial institutions worldwide. This growth is driven by a robust emphasis on research and development, with two major product releases each month that keep its offerings aligned with the evolving market demands.
Venues
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Euronext FX has focused on enhancing client service through innovative strategies and solutions, resulting in improved satisfaction, engagement and operational efficiency.
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During the review period, 360T introduced new initiatives that made a significant impact to their corporate clients.
Banks
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UBS has built a formidable reputation as a key liquidity provider across institutional, retail, corporate and wealth management domains, leveraging its expansive market liquidity, product scale and global distribution network.
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HSBC continues to develop its market-leading franchise in global non-deliverable forwards (NDF). With operations now spanning 25 key NDF jurisdictions, including Brazil, Taiwan and Korea, coupled with a sales presence in nearly 50 locations and dedicated e-FX sales teams, HSBC provides clients with market colour in local market dynamics.
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JPMorgan has continued to demonstrate innovation and growth in FX options by enhancing product offerings, expanding platform integrations and strengthening client engagement. The results speak for themselves – JPMorgan’s market share for FX options direct client execution rose by 7% year-on-year.
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UBS has demonstrated resilience and adaptability in the face of significant organizational changes and challenging market conditions, maintaining a strong focus on differentiated client service through consistent liquidity provision, competitive pricing and innovative content.
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Wells Fargo has reached important milestones by expanding its global pricing distribution network and platform connectivity.
Technology providers
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OneZero Financial Systems is a leading provider of cutting-edge technology solutions for FX liquidity in the financial services industry. The firm has introduced several new initiatives over the review period that have demonstrated its commitment to continuously improving the liquidity-neutral ecosystem that it has built on behalf of clients. The firm has put an emphasis on helping all its client segments make data-driven decisions in liquidity provider (LP) choice.
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Murex's 2024 FX options strategy focused on meeting the trading needs of all FX options desks – from regional institutions to leading global banks. Its key achievements include scaling up real-time portfolio management, expanding its new stochastic local volatility (SLV) model, and supporting digital transformation through new application programming interfaces (API).
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During the review period, Tradepoint Systems made significant advancements in enhancing FX spot trading, both through auto-hedging and manual order execution tools. A major development was the introduction of advanced auto-hedging capabilities, enabling clients to automate their hedging processes across spot, forwards and swaps. This innovation has improved execution quality, reduced operational risks, and led to better trading outcomes, increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of our platform.
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Over the past year, Digitec has cemented its position as the global standard for FX swaps and non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) through embracing technological innovation.
Trading firms
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LMAX Exchange stood out from competitors thanks to its unique approach and cutting-edge technology. It services a global FX customer base of funds, banks, brokerages, asset managers and proprietary trading firms through the provision of an anonymised, regulated and rules-based trading environment with strict price and time priority order execution at ultra-low latency.
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2024 has been a record-breaking year for FXSpotStream (FSS), setting new highs in all products including its offering in non-deliverable forwards (NDFs).
Venues
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CME Group’s EBS has been established three decades in the market as a primary venue for reliable, anonymous liquidity and price discovery in cash FX. During the review period, CME further pushed EBS’s value proposition by launching several new initiatives.
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Digital Vega has transformed from a simple aggregator of vanilla bank liquidity into a leading provider of FX options-related products and services to banks and clients globally. This evolution has been driven by continuous innovation, strategic partnerships and a steadfast commitment to delivering client excellence.
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During the last year, 360T has strategically invested in its spot FX technology, building on a foundation of unique liquidity created by its client base for spot, which spans both its electronic communication network (ECN), 360TGTX, and its multibank over-the-counter (OTC) platform. The first thing that differentiates 360T’s Spot FX offering is the breadth and depth of its client base. While other platforms like to talk about “unique liquidity” the fact is that across its ECN and multibank OTC platform, 360T has over 2,400 buyside clients across more than 75 countries, in addition to being connected to over 200 liquidity providers globally.
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During the second quarter of 2024, 360T averaged €142 billion per day in trading volumes, with the largest portion of that being FX swaps trading. The company specializes in FX swaps trading across three areas – for the buyside, the 360T execution management system (EMS) streamlines trading with customizable automation tools and embedded data feeds for best execution.
Banks
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During the review period, Barclays’ focus in the FX algo space has been on enhancing its client experience by improving overall algo performance and increasing platform flexibility to facilitate targeted algo customization. This client-centric approach resulted in the further broadening and refinement of its BARX Gator algo suite. Added to this, Barclays’ established franchise, adaptability and deep infrastructure interconnectivity contribute to the current reputation and standing in the market of the algo offering. The bank’s global teams, quants, and dedicated resources ensure continuous optimization and deliver top-tier, tailored solutions to its clients.
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JPMorgan made a meaningful enhancement to its FX analytics offering with the launch of Algo Simulator.
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TD Securities (TDS) places client services at the heart of its FX data management strategy. The bank aims to provide a personalized, comprehensive service, transforming client data into actionable insights that enhance its FX offerings. By leveraging advanced forecasting models, trading signals and FX portfolios, it aims to empower clients with the strategies needed to navigate the complexities of the global FX market.
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Since its launch in 2014, Bank of America’s (BofA) transactional FX business has quickly risen to become one of the top three global players. This success reflects the bank's strategic vision, innovative products and global reach, enabling it to secure a strong market position and stand out in the competitive FX industry.
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UBS has continued to evolve the FX offering on its UBS Neo platform over the past four years, with the bank making significant strategic investments in the last 12 months that further refine the offering.
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UBS has increased its investment and development of leading FX technology builds notably over the past three years, especially since its recent acquisition of Credit Suisse, with a number of significant innovations having been brought to market this year.
Technology providers
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Since its inception in 2018, FairXchange’s Horizon platform has helped FX businesses navigate operational complexities through AI-driven data analytics. Horizon's capabilities have expanded considerably with the recent integration of Sentinel, a powerful AI alerting tool that enhances real-time monitoring and response.
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FX HedgePool’s evolution over the past five years underscores its commitment to innovation and adaptability. The company’s latest service, X Bridge, builds on its proprietary credit model to offer true all-to-all FX liquidity for all instrument types with a pioneering Algo Store.
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Over the last year, LCH ForexClear has launched initiatives aimed at safeguarding clearing members’ interests and supporting general market and financial stability through its operations.
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Over the past 12 months, 4OTC has launched significant initiatives aimed at addressing connectivity issues caused by the fragmented nature of the FX market.
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Tradefeedr has continued the development of its secure unified data API product, enabling the analysis and sharing of trading data at scale with the aim of improving transparency in the FX markets.
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BestX, an independent entity within State Street's GlobalLink franchise, continues to be an industry-standard in FX and has significantly evolved its offering with a number of key initiatives.
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Euronext FX made significant progress to its product offering following the recent establishment of its dedicated product team. Spearheaded by a global head of product, the focus was on ensuring client feedback is promptly addressed and that the platform continues to develop, retaining and expanding its user base.
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Over the past year, 360T has strategically developed its execution management system (EMS) to better serve FX clients, registering progress on several fronts.
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Aeron, Adaptive’s open-source technology platform dedicated to building low-latency, cloud-tolerant trading systems has been at the forefront of recent industry developments.
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Asset managers are becoming increasingly sophisticated and requiring advanced tools across the trade lifecycle and, during the last year, Bloomberg’s FXGO has evolved in line with the needs of the FX industry.
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SmartTrade Technologies' order management system (OMS) has been adopted by 80% of its 70+ clients, showcasing strong market confidence in its offering. During the review period, smartTrade introduced several strategic enhancements to its OMS. Its continuous product innovation to further enhance trading efficiency has been the main source of new client acquisitions over the past year.
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Post-trade infrastructure provider OSTTRA had a remarkable year. Its recent efforts to improve integration, control and efficiency have had a tangible impact on its clients and wider market.
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During the review period, Tradepoint Systems significantly enhanced its pricing and price construction capabilities, leading to substantial benefits for clients and the business. Its flagship product, Lightning FX, features a full suite of pricing and trading strategies, coupled with user interfaces designed to cater to the varied needs of e-FX administrators, voice traders, salespersons and end clients.
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Amidst ongoing currency volatility, chief financial officers are facing heightened challenges, as the risk of adverse currency movements threatens to negatively impact profits. MillTechFX has seen an increase in its risk management services, largely due to the rising importance of FX risk management among senior finance executives worldwide, coupled with their need for a transparent and straightforward solution.
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GlobalLink Digital, initially developed as a smart desktop for State Street's trading products, has evolved into a comprehensive, interoperable platform.
Banks – regional
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Over the last year, Deutsche Bank has played a pivotal role in the development of financial markets in the Asia-Pacific region, assisting clients in navigating the evolution of the FX markets amidst volatility and uncertainty.
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Leveraging its deep knowledge of local markets in CEE, coupled with global product expertise, UniCredit dominated the regional FX market. The bank’s extensive network enables access to a broad suite of FX products, serving a diverse range of clients, including multinational corporations, financial institutions, local corporates and retail customers. This broad reach helps clients of all sizes optimize their FX strategies, whether in local markets or on the global stage.
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Leveraging its prominent position as a facilitator of trade between Germany and frontier markets, Commerzbank has established a strong network of correspondent banks and institutional clients in these regions.
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Banco Santander's Latam FX product offering has evolved over the review period, driven by strategic investment and a focus on meeting its client needs. Key developments include expanding the global volatility product to Latin America, particularly Brazil and Mexico, integrating local expertise with global pricing and risk management. This has enabled the launch of new currency options and expanded Latam crosses, offering clients tailored hedging solutions with improved pricing and risk management.
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Deutsche Bank has continued to deliver solid growth in its western Europe FX business as demonstrated by the rapid adoption of its new offerings among the European client base.
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JPMorgan has taken a multifaceted approach to enhancing its FX business in North America, with a focus on automation, client customization and technological upgrades across various business lines.
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JPMorgan has significantly strengthened its presence in the Nordic FX markets by leveraging its role as a key liquidity provider, offering innovative trading technology and analytics, and achieving impressive market share across key currencies.
Banks – country
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Banco Santander has seen the expansion and success of its FX business extend into Argentina over the review period. Significant developments include its developing non-deliverable forwards (NDF) currency solutions, enabling clients to trade Latam currencies offshore while maintaining onshore delivery. This expansion is driven by growing trade corridors between Asia and Latam and currency rebalancing trends.
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Banco Santander expanded its global infrastructure-based FX eBooks to Latin America during the review period, efficiently utilizing liquidity across regions and optimizing pricing for clients.
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TD Bank Group’s (TD) global presence includes TD Securities (TDS), which has strong wholesale relationships with pension funds, asset managers, insurers and corporates, along with a strong retail and wealth FX business, and consistently ranks number one or two in market share for Canada. TDS’s e-FX team has made significant strides in enhancing the bank's data and analytics capabilities in Canada, especially in the area of market microstructure.
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In 2023 and 2024, Banco Santander Chile enhanced its FX ecosystem to improve client experience from account opening to transaction completion. Key developments included launching several platforms: a new single-dealer platform with immediate settlement and robust security; an international transfer platform for easy, secure Swift transfers; and a 100% digital platform for individual transfers across Latam, the US and Europe. Additionally, the bank’s Más Lucas initiative offers basic accounts for unbanked and underbanked persons, and new digital foreign currency accounts (JPY, CNH, GBP, EUR, USD) enable retail and CIB customers to manage FX positions efficiently, supported by digital and voice services.
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BBVA’s Latin America FX business is an integral part of BBVA’s global FX franchise, representing a large portion of its total FX revenues and FX global front office resources.
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Banco Popular Dominicano (BPD) is the largest private bank in the Dominican Republic, recognized as a leader in the FX market with a 21% market share of USD/DOP transactions as of May 2024. During the review period, the bank has seen significant growth in FX derivatives, particularly in non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) for the USD/DOP pair, driven by increasing demand from its clients seeking to hedge their FX positions. BPD offers both NDFs and full-delivery forwards of up to 180 days in USD/DOP and EUR/USD, catering to large corporate clients, including those in the beverage and manufacturing industries.
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Despite the significant depreciation of the Egyptian pound, which saw its value nearly halved, CIB outperformed competitors in FX during the review period, successfully managing its liquidity and FX positions. The bank strategically balanced the expansion of its FX and trade finance business while meeting its FX obligations.
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TBC Bank continued to dominate Georgia’s corporate FX market, registering a 41.1% share in FX operations for business entities.
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With a robust historical foundation as a key bank for the German Mittelstand – firms which collectively account for the largest share of the country's economic output – and a core partner for institutional clients, Commerzbank has leveraged its deep client relationships to drive advancements in providing FX services to its established client base in Germany.
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Stanbic Bank Kenya’s strategic initiatives highlight its ability to blend technological advancements with tailored financial solutions, addressing complex market needs while enhancing client autonomy. The bank’s contributions to major corporate transactions further highlight its pivotal position in shaping the financial landscape in Kenya.
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Warba Bank has made impressive strides in its provision of institutional FX services to the local market, focusing on innovation, automation and client-centric financial solutions.
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Citibanamex, with over 139 years of history in Mexico, is a leading player in the FX business. The bank offers FX services for a diverse set of currencies, including the MXN, USD and EUR. It is known for its ability to deliver complex FX solutions through an extensive product range such as FX spot, forwards, swaps and options, supported by a robust team of over 200 professionals and coverage across 1,280 branches.
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A dominant player in the Omani market, Bank Muscat offers comprehensive FX payment solutions to both corporate and individual clients, facilitating remittances and trade-related payments in 29 currencies.
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BBVA has maintained a strong presence in the Peruvian FX market, holding a leading role for the past six years.
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DBS is a leading financial services group in Asia, operating in 19 markets with headquarters in Singapore. The bank's dominant presence in Asia contributes to its competitive advantage in FX for client services, innovative digital solutions and as a leading data provider.
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UBS’s acquisition of Credit Suisse boosted its capabilities in the Swiss FX market. Already a dominant player in Switzerland, the deal allowed the bank to offer a comprehensive range of FX services to a larger, more diverse client base. It also enabled it to deepen its expertise, particularly in the Swiss franc market, where client demand for specialized insights is growing.
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Stanbic Bank Tanzania’s (SBT) FX operations experienced impressive growth, with FX revenue doubling year-over-year.
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NatWest Markets (NWM) is a UK franchise offering a leading range of FX services to both its local and global client bases.
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Over 2023, Sacombank’s FX division played a crucial role in the bank's strategy, according to its own records, contributing 10%-20% of its pre-tax profit. Despite global economic challenges including high inflation and geopolitical instability, Sacombank focused on supporting businesses affected by the rising USD/VND exchange rate.
Exchanges
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SGX FX is the largest Asian FX Futures exchange and has continued to innovate in the Asian FX markets by offering comprehensive solutions tailored to the evolving needs of clients, while driving growth through technological innovation and client engagement.
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CME Group has long been recognized as the largest centralized FX venue in North America, offering a market-leading range of FX products and client-centric services, while the group’s global footprint led to it recently being recognised by the Bank for International Settlements as the largest centralized FX venue in the world.
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Deutsche Börse Group’s Eurex is the European hub of the global derivatives market, offering a combination of listed FX alongside a deepening connection to over-the-counter (OTC) FX markets. Eurex’s FX infrastructure is designed to allow market participants to adapt to regulatory mandates, minimizing the cost of trading while allowing clients to more effectively transition between listed and OTC formats.
Brokers
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XTB is a global fintech company supporting more than 1 million customers worldwide, offering a broad range of instruments, including forex trading in contracts for difference on over 70 currency pairs in addition to cryptocurrencies.
Banks
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TD Securities has implemented comprehensive global and regional diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategies across the business, with the FX team ensuring that it also has a targeted approach.
Venues
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Euronext FX has made strides in cultivating a diverse and inclusive workplace through a comprehensive approach to talent recruitment, development and retention. The venue has actively implemented inclusive hiring practices to attract and nurture a diverse workforce. This commitment is evident in Euronext FX’s gender equality initiatives, which saw the venue leverage strategic partnerships to empower women and build a diverse talent pipeline.