In the chair : Boston Prime: bringing innovation to liquidity connectivity

First Published in e-Forex Magazine April 2012

e-Forex talks with David Hastings, CEO of Boston Prime, an innovative liquidity connector which provides institutional-grade liquidity for FX market participants.

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David, what are the main liquidity problems facing FX brokerages and why is Prime Brokerage proving an increasingly popular option for many of them?

Quality liquidity is a complex item. To decide on liquidity one has to take into account spreads, but also fill ratio, available volumes, execution in low-liquidity market conditions, execution speed, slippage and other criteria. For an FX broker to have access to good quality liquidity it has to partner with a quality prime broker and liquidity provider. The problem is that many brokers are limited with the liquidity they can access - this is for a few reasons. First, many brokerages are limited with their access to liquidity providers because of their small size and lack of trading history. Secondly, customers have increased their need for aggressive terms and increased ticket volumes which can translate to elevated risk for liquidity providers. And finally, there are often imposed deposit and trade minimums which can be limiting to small brokers. By partnering with a prime broker like Boston Prime nearly any institution can have access to the best liquidity in the world through our relationships with the top liquidity providers (banks, hedge funds and other market maker) with minimal margin requirements and with few limitations- its liquidity accessibility at its best for FX brokerages.