The recently announced

Whilst there is still uncertainty as to whether Europe will follow the US in exempting swaps and forwards from mandatory clearing requirements, it has been clearly stated by the G-20 leaders that all OTC derivatives contracts should be reported to Trade Repositories (TR). This was reaffirmed in June 2010 when the leaders met again and pledged to speed up the implementation of measures that will

For nearly a decade, trends in electronic foreign exchange have been consistent: increasing use, growing trading volumes and an expanding electronic share of the global FX pie. Two of those three trends held true in 2010: electronic trading systems continued to attract new users

With all other instruments traded electronically and with new technology available for trading FX options, interest is now turning to the last bastion of telephone trading, writes Frances Maguire.

Connection to CCPs, Swap Execution Facilities (SEFs) and Trade Repositories will add another layer to an already complex and sophisticated automated system, writes Frances Maguire.

Without doubt the markets never stand still and as FX market participants, we are no different in having to keep pace with ideas, technology and the like. What is striking is that the question being asked is what might the next generation of FX salesperson begin to look like and what skills do they need to succeed? The biggest single driver affecting this is Social Media-come-Social-Forex.

Gerry O

Opportunity is essential to any trading strategy but, as Nicholas Pratt explores in this article, what sets high frequency trading apart is the speed at which these opportunities are discovered and the speed at which the resulting trades are executed. All of this has been made possible by technology, both the provision of it and the lack of it, for it is the disparity in the extent and sophistication of technology that first presented the kind of opportunities that saw high frequency trading blossom in the FX world.

Roger Aitken explores the continued drive by FX trading houses to secure low latency trading solutions and discovers how financial network community ecosystems, built around co-location, proximity hosting and managed service offerings, play a pivotal role in allowing trading participants to remain efficient, secure and generate profitable returns, amid rapidly burgeoning daily FX trading volumes.

Nedbank Capital is the investment banking arm of Nedbank Group, one of the four largest banking groups in South Africa. The full spectrum investment banking offering provided by the firm stretches from debt advisory and long-term project financing to equity trading and research to South African and international clients. The business, which celebrated its centenary, in London in 2006, provides extensive knowledge of and experience in, doing business in South Africa and the rest of Africa. The Nedbank London office ensures that this local knowledge is supplemented with up-to-date international and capital market expertise.

Nicholas Pratt explores what developments within the FX market are influencing the use of algorithms and whether proposed changes to the way the FX market operates will create new opportunities for these to add value.

Nichada Katchamart, Back Office Product Manager and Mark Biezup, FX Product Manager, at SunGard Sierra discuss the need for flexibility in preparing for Dodd-Frank.

Whether dealing with retail individuals or institutional firms, building an FX system in-house can involve prohibitive costs and long time delays. The alternative is a white labelled solution from a third party provider. Heather McLean, examines how white label solutions can expedite entry into the burgeoning and lucrative FX market.

The new MetaTrader 5 (MT5) platform has been developed by MetaQuotes Software to provide brokerage services for customers operating in the Forex, CFD, Futures, as well as Equity markets. Heather McLean examines the challenges faced by firms implementing the new platform and the benefits MT5 offers them in the competitive FX as well as in equity markets.

I'm a MetaTrader baby. It's a term I coined for those of us who've 'grown up' in the FX Markets trading on the MetaTrader platforms. Even when I graduated from retail trading, I still found ways to trade using the MetaTrader platform. I was there for the switch from MetaTrader 3 to MetaTrader 4 and although MetaQuotes has pledged to support MetaTrader 4 until the last brokerage stops using it, another switch looms on the horizon. The switch to MetaTrader 5.

e-Forex talks with Yoad Drewes, trading director at leading Non Dealing Desk broker Real Forex.

MetaTrader quickly dominated the forex market as the platform of choice for retail traders. Its easy to use interface and wide availability across multiple brokers made it an instant hit. Shaun Overton examines the ease with which traders can use Expert Advisors to facilitate their trading, offering a viable alternative to traders that are unable to trade manually with consistent positive results.

While volumes continue to grow, the world

e-Forex talks with Ross Ditlove, CEO of MB Trading

e-Forex talks with Kevin Ashby, CEO of Velsys, a leading e-FX solution developer

Retail FX Roundup is a regular new feature in e-Forex magazine, which will be analyzing some of the key news items and trends in the Retail FX sector over the previous few months. The column is written by Gerald Segal who is Managing Director of LeapRate, an independent research and advisory firm, covering the world of online Forex and CFD trading. LeapRate

e-Forex talks with Carl Elsammak, President and Founder

Lars Holst, CEO of CFH Markets, talks about the steps organizations should consider taking which can help them achieve success in the ultra competitive Retail FX sell-side space.

Leverate is the ideal one-stop-shop where brokers can find everything they need from A to Z to start their own independent Forex brokerage. Providing all services, from technology to company incorporation, from website design to payment processing, the entire Leverate team assists with successfully streamlining all processes for the broker from every angle.

Tom Higgins is CEO of Gold-i, a market leader in retail FX trading systems integration. Prior to setting up Gold-i, he was a Chief Technology Officer in the City for over 20 years and used that experience and perspective as a technology buyer to shape the Gold-i offering. He offers guidance on the key areas to consider when selecting a technology provider.