Overall investment in FX technology has declined in line with the wider financial services sector over the last 12 to 18 months as banks focus on specific markets and business objectives. But there’s no shortage of innovation in banks’ proprietary or off-the-shelf platforms.

Changes among the top five • new entrants to the top 10 • new winners in three of the big four client categories • new regional winners • three new entrants to the top 10 trading platform firms

A small group of top banks has been steadily increasing its dominance of FX trading, but its advantage is so great that within a few years some are predicting all but a handful of banks will have exited the market as liquidity-providing principal players.

Partially filled orders are nothing new, but discussion of their impact is tied to the debate over the necessity to reform last look.

Pakistan’s economic reform programme is starting to bear fruit, but a huge appreciation in the real exchange rate during the past two years is hurting the country’s export market, warns the IMF, amid expectations the country will soon join the MSCI emerging markets (EMs) index.

A group of FX electronic communication networks (ECNs) and market makers are working together to create a central tape for FX, modelled on a similar project for US equities, which they hope will increase transparency and democratize the currencies market, Euromoney can reveal.

Structural shifts upend troubled FX franchises

Ex-Citi trader Carly McWilliams’ employment tribunal win will spur on other fired currency traders waiting for their day in court and encourage more women to bring unfair dismissal claims, say legal experts. The banks’ argument that a handful of rogue traders acting behind senior managers’ backs were to blame for the currency rigging scandal is contested.

Execution management systems (EMSs) are playing a key role in enabling pension funds to lower their FX costs.

With the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (Mifid II) on the horizon, the regulation is likely to impact FX market structure – indirectly.

Exchanges and the over-the-counter (OTC) market might have moved a little closer in recent years, but it is far from inevitable that demand for greater trading clarity will push a sizeable chunk of the market away from OTC.

European banking authorities have diluted ‘currency mismatch’ haircut rules in forthcoming non-cleared derivatives legislation – but the bigger issue remains that traders still don’t know if they will have to post collateral on their uncleared FX derivative trades.

Trading within the five-minute window of the WM 4pm fix has become predictable due to the widespread use of algorithms among banks and buy-side institutions, according to research published by Pragma.

The US dollar’s inexorable rally has juddered to a halt this year as it slides versus all but one of the world’s major currencies. Most analysts are sceptical of a strong return and Wednesday’s FOMC minutes only confirmed the US Federal Reserve’s caution.

Thomson Reuters has acquired the WM benchmarks business in a move that makes it arguably the single most-important institution in the global benchmarks industry. It has no plans to change the offering for now, but some wonder whether it could begin a period of change in the broader business, with new providers competing on calculation methodology.

Acting for now as a secure exchange between conventional and cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, Stockholm-based Safello is developing what it sees as a ground-breaking transaction browser.

The emergence of new trading venues marks a notable advance in the development of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, although exchanges vary in their product offerings.

TriOptima has called on banks to do more to create currency hubs in their trading books, allowing for greater efficiency in managing their balance sheets.

China has reportedly drafted a Tobin tax on foreign currency transactions – just the latest in a series of measures that appears to backpedal on financial reform. However, bulls say it’s a classic move by Beijing to limp towards reform without subjecting domestic markets to volatility.

Foreign-exchange professionals are feeling the brunt of banks’ deep cuts to sales and trading desks, but don’t get disheartened: the shake-up of the industry offers exciting new opportunities.

Revelations of benchmark fixing and manipulation appear to have created a more favourable environment for FX industry participants to highlight suspected wrongdoing but the data tell a different story in the UK.

Demand for currency hedged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is expected to remain strong this year thanks to FX volatility, but year-on-year growth pins on the dollar.

Gavin Wells, the pioneer of LCH.Clearnet’s ForexClear offering, and his right-hand man Basu Choudhury have stepped down amid talk of a fall-out with the clearing house over returns, bringing into question the future direction of ForexClear.

China is well on the way to creating a global currency, with a little help from the IMF. But what of India, the other economy set to dominate the 21st century? Will the rupee come to rival the renminbi and the dollar, or will poor planning and weak infrastructure undermine its ambitions?

Law firms might be licking their lips at the prospect of fat FX settlements in Europe, but the ongoing European Commission investigation and lack of clarity around the UK’s new regime for competition litigation make it difficult to predict their strategy – or their chances of success.

Weaknesses in Japan and Asia will mean a flight to quality.

Regulators and policymakers recognise the need to understand changes in liquidity but need better market intelligence, AFME conference hears.

Certification could be withdrawn if participants do not abide by the global code of conduct, according to FCA’s Schooling Latter.

The announcement of the referendum date of June 23 on UK membership of the European Union (EU) sent an already-weakening pound into a tailspin, which saw it testing multi-decade lows, but traders are divided on whether sterling has bottomed out as Brexit fears jump.

With rates near their lower-bound or hovering in negative territory around the developed world, the opportunity cost of investing in gold – which critics decry for lacking a regular income stream – has essentially vanished. Unless the fear continues to rage, the commodity’s recent spell should run out of steam as US rates creep up.