Barclays Stockbrokers, a division of Barclays Wealth, has announced that its FX platform aimed at private investors has gone live following some extensive beta testing. The WeeklyFiX first reported Barclays’ plans last November. Since then the unit has conducted extensive market research to gauge the appetite for a margined FX service. It says that more than a quarter of investors (26%) surveyed are looking to trade FX in the future, with 16% already trading. The company, which claims to be the most active retail stockbroker in the UK, has declined to say how many clients it has; however, it is believed that the total is in excess of 400,000. Around 25% of these are deemed active, which suggests it has a lot of potential to attract some very significant flow.
May 02, 2008