In this Regulatory Roundup feature Felix Shipkevich, General Counsel at CMS Forex, examines the question of leverage and what factors may influence the way regulators draw the line of what is the appropriate level of leverage that should be allowed to be used by retail clients, if any.

New and seasoned participants in the burgeoning foreign exchange (FX) market continue to leverage electronic trading platforms. Whether they are money managers in search of better fund performance or banks in need of cost-saving efficiencies, users are seeking particular electronic FX (e-FX) functionality and benefits. The best products and providers offer access to liquidity, improved cost and time efficiencies, better price transparency, greater stability, error reductions, enhanced auditability, and smooth integration with existing in-house systems.

We review the ProTrader multi asset platform from PFSoft. ProTrader provides a complete solution for retail brokers, market makers and hedge funds. The platform supports a wide range of products and is based on the latest technology. Denis Borisovsky, CEO of PFSoft tells us more about it..

Before a trader can start making money in FX, they must first choose a trading platform from which to work. This is no simple or even relatively easy task such as deciding on a new car or a lawnmower. From broker, to type of service, to checklist of needs and wants, to individual trading style, the choices facing traders are varied and can be quite complex.

With Bjorn Lundvall, E-commerce Manager Trading, e-solutions at Handelsbanken Capital Markets, Niels.van.Daatselaar, Head Financial Markets e-Commerce at Rabobank International, Peter Hagenauer, head of eCommerce Applications & Technologies, Markets, ANZ Institutional, Stamos Fokianos, Global Head eChannels, Financial Markets, Standard Chartered Bank and Clive Standish, Head of Electronic Markets Client Service, North America at RBS Global Banking & Markets.

The recent release of the 2009 Forexds Traders Choice Awards provides a rare glimpse inside the broker preferences of average currency traders worldwide. Rather than making an article about yet another FX award, e-Forex magazine asked me to share the unique aspects of the Forexds Awards. For that, Id like to share some personal thoughts going into this 2 year project and then delve into the results beyond what appeared in the May press release.

The debate about whether relationship trading or anonymous trading is superior is perennial, but now is an opportune time to revisit the methods' relative merits. The emerging competitive electronic trading platforms for the interdealer, multi-dealer, and dealer client markets have facilitated the adoption of electronic trading and the ability to trade anonymously during this decade. This article discusses a number of critical risk and regulatory outcomes from the current financial crisis that focus on the deployment of relationship trading vs. anonymous FX trading.

e-Forex talks with Jamal Fakhory, Managing Director of United World Capital, a leading provider of online FX trading services for Retail and Institutional investors.

A fully regulated, diversified asset manager located in Jersey, Channel Islands.

CLS Group and interdealer broker, ICAP, are creating a new joint venture (JV) to provide trade aggregation services to participants active in the over the counter FX market. The new business, initially named CLS Aggregation, is designed to address the rapid increase in foreign exchange trading as an asset class by a widening group of hedge funds, algorithmic traders, retail and institutional market participants, which have brought substantially higher volumes to the foreign exchange industry.