Brokers and even the likes of Western Union are finding success in selling complex foreign-exchange options to small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as banks retreat from servicing their smaller customers, but industry figures warn of a new ‘Wild West’ and the need for robust compliance standards.

Demand for single-dealer platforms continues to drive adoption of platform-as-a-service (PaaS) in the FX space, allowing smaller players to compete with the top-tier firms in pre- and post-trade services.

P2P FX is rapidly gaining traction in the retail space, but even providers acknowledge it will take time to achieve significant volumes at the upper end of the corporate market.

Structural problems and over-leverage mean the focus will switch to Asia for the next global currency moves.

While the central bank has ruled out further currency devaluation, markets continue to price in a weaker naira and the prospect of weak foreign capital inflows.

FX managers see growth in active currency hedging and alpha-generating FX funds in the years ahead.

Providers of FX transaction cost analysis (TCA) are proof ‘it’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good’, as they aggressively promote their services to institutional clients after fixing scandals.

CLS, the provider of settlement services for FX, is inching closer to bringing the Hungarian forint into the fold of currencies it settles. This is just one of a catalogue of projects the group is working on, as it extends its settlement reach further across the FX world.

The benefits of in-house banks are evident to companies with businesses in multiple countries and substantial FX exposure, although implementation challenges can be considerable.

In addition to facilitating more efficient payments, corporate cards can also help treasurers reduce their FX costs.

China’s bid to join the currencies in the IMF’s SDR basket is more than a footnote of interest only to economists. Policymakers should take note.

Renminbi internationalization a big opportunity; commodities counterbalance bank retreat.

Six months have passed since the Swiss National Bank (SNB) scrapped its EUR/CHF 1.20 floor on January 15, unleashing a torrent of volatility and burning traders across the globe. What lessons should we remember from one of the craziest days in currency markets?

US firms named best bank and best investment bank; Hourican takes banker of the year award; ICBC’s Jiang rewarded for outstanding contribution to global financial services.

Euromoney can reveal more details emerge about IG’s alleged failures to deliver best-execution practice on Black Thursday.

Banks cannot afford to ignore the potential value of using insights from data analytics to personalize their FX services.

In the absence of an industry-wide consensus on faster settlement, availability of real-time FX conversion is likely to remain patchy – challenging the growth of immediate payments in corporate banking.

A number of extreme market events in recent months, combined with ultra-loose monetary policy by the world’s leading central banks, have changed the relationships between many asset classes, including the euro, Swiss franc, yen and sterling.

Lawyers and hedging consultants are reporting a rise in mis-selling accusations from companies in the travel and leisure sector, over complex currency derivatives sold to them by their banks and brokers. These cases are in their infancy, but are predicted to rise as the mis-selling scandal broadens from interest-rate hedging products to forex products.

Market volatility has impacted FX risk-management processes, although differing approaches to technology investment means the effect on market participants has been uneven.

Inertia around the mandating of FX activity on swap execution facilities (SEFs) by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) continues to favour Europe as a trading location.

After years of modest growth, currency hedged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are capitalizing on the travails of the euro and yen.

The widespread practice of internalisation in foreign exchange has officially come under fire from regulators for a lack of transparency and is fast losing its shine, but it remains crucial to the smooth running of the world’s largest market.

While hedge funds increase their use of algorithms, corporates continue to execute only modest volumes.

A review of EMIR reporting is under way as the industry lobbies regulators to move to single-sided reporting for OTC derivatives and remove the reporting requirement for exchange-traded derivatives. What’s more, cross-border harmonization of derivatives regulation is way off.

A series of market disasters in recent years, culminating in the SNB’s decision to abandon its peg to the euro, have forced banks to reconsider their commitment to the prime brokerage (PB) business, leaving many smaller hedge funds and other clients in the cold – but a new generation of providers is taking their place, promising to revolutionize the business.

Sponsored research guide

As the Bank of England (BoE) prepares to publish its final report on fair and effective FICC markets on Wednesday, a senior official acknowledges there is little support to extend exchange trading beyond what is mandated by the G20.

The number of renminbi trading hubs is growing fast. More sovereign names are set to enter the issuance market, and bankers expect another banner year in RMB debt volumes. This year the currency could be added to the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights basket, while the Hong Kong/Shanghai Stock Connect initiative is now up and running. China’s leaders believe further opening of the capital account while boosting the flow of RMB in global trade is vital to the country’s long-term economic performance and credibility.

Banks are making steady progress in cleaning up their foreign-exchange businesses in the wake of regulatory investigations into rigging currency markets, according to the chair of the Financial Stability Board’s (FSB) FX benchmarks group Guy Debelle.