Manfred Wiebogen looks at how the economic impact of globalisation together with the current financial crisis may demand some reorganisation in the world currency structure.

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.

The current economic situation is unique for a combination of reasons, but one of the most prominent is the combination of a commercial slowdown with an exceptional decline in many bank balance sheets. While this has numerous implications, the effect on global FX trading volumes is particularly conspicuous. Andy Webb explains how FX trading platforms have a duty in such an environment to assist participants in achieving more with less.

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.

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.

While there is little doubt that investment managers are rapidly increasing their use of electronic trading, there is still much to be done in terms of standardising access and processes to enable them to reap the full benefits of automation.

With Complex Event Processing (CEP) having spread out across the asset classes

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.

Time is money and nowhere can this truism be taken more literally than in the trading world. Algorithmic trading in FX has grown in order to sate the appetite for higher frequency, larger volume trading and more sophisticated strategies

Derek Sammann, Managing Director, Global Head of foreign exchange at CME Group

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

FX margin trading and the subsequent need to manage collateral has become very much in the spotlight in recent times as the cost of credit becomes more prohibitive and firms seek to squeeze greater efficiency from their bottom line.

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.

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.

The recent release of the 2009 Forexds Trader

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

Thomas Vinding, co-head of e-Markets at Nordea discusses the question of whether Algorithmic Trading can work in abnormal FX Markets.