Trading signal services are an increasingly popular trend in today’s forex trading environment. They provide a solution for those seeking to diversify their portfolio from just using their own signals or for those who are not willing to invest the time and effort into developing their signal systems. The market already has several solutions that are actively used by traders. Taking this into account, MetaQuotes Software Corp. (developer of the MetaTrader trading platforms) has released its own signals service which promises integrated advantages for the trading systems market.

On the 7th of November 2012 at their offices in Limassol, Cyprus, MetaQuotes Software Corporation held a seminar entitled, ‘MetaTrader 5 Gateways, Connectivity to Exchanges and Liquidity providers.’ The event was designed to highlight the advantages of MetaTrader 5’s Gateway system and the breadth of liquidity providers represented and it’s ability to allow brokers to provide liquidity themselves or trade as an ECN reducing both their own and clients risk.

Consider this scenario: You’re travelling for business when you receive a message from your broker mid-way through your flight (it’s a fancy new Boeing that doesn’t blow an engine when you check your email). The heads of the Eurozone have struck up an agreement on Greece’s new bailout. Hooray!

Gold-i’s portfolio of bolt-on products are in high demand as they can play a significant role in helping brokers to trade or manage their risk more effectively. They have largely been developed in response to client requests and all address a genuine need in the market.

Nicholas Pratt examines the prime of prime brokerage (PoP) model and why it has been an increasing feature of the retail FX market as a consequence of numerous factors, including a more educated (and consequently more suspicious) client base.

As FX volumes continue their stratospheric rise, an increasing number of brokers and other financial firms are exploring different methods for dealing with liquidity sourcing and distribution. Prime of Prime Brokerages or “PoPs” is an increasingly popular option for retail brokers looking to effectively manage the problems brought about by spiralling volumes, with a long term view to reaping their maximum benefits. But what, exactly, can be accomplished through the use of PoP, and how does the broker decide on which PoP service is most suited to their business requirements TopFX makes the case for PoPs.

This month, trading systems integrator, Gold-i is celebrating four years of being in business. Tom Higgins, Gold-i’s CEO, outlines how the company has grown from a start-up UK business to a global market leader.

Life for FX brokers is being revolutionised. Direct Market Access (DMA), Electronic Communications Networks (ECN), and Straight Through Processing (STP) are now having a major impact on brokerage operations and becoming the number one choice for increasing numbers of firms operating in the Retail FX market. As Heather McLean discovers, brokers need no longer be exposed to the same high levels of risk that being a market maker involved and profits are able to be increased as blood pressure decreases in this exciting electronic world.

e-Forex talks with Paul Belogour, CEO of Boston UniSoft Technologies, the home of UniTrader (UT).

Heather McLean explores why Binary Forex Options are gaining in usage amongst retail traders and investors and how the inclusion of these instruments can help FX brokers to differentiate their e-trading products and services

Olivier Virzi, Chief Operating Officer of Olfa Trade, talks to e-Forex about some of the key features of his company’s new ECN platform, SeamlessFX and global order management system.

Liquidity bridges are now seen as an established and crucial element in delivering electronic forex trading services. Heather McLean explores how they can also help FX brokers capture more business, increase customer loyalty and manage risk more effectively by streamlining the back office and making operations run in real time, a vital task given today’s rising retail trade volumes, and increasingly savvy customers.

Anthony Brocco, CEO of Advanced Markets, a leading provider of foreign exchange direct market access (DMA) services, talks to e-Forex about the launch of the company’s new technology, liquidity and credit offering, UltiMT.

e-Forex talks with Matt McIntyre, Partners Manager at AxiCorp Financial Services Pty Ltd, about the company’s institutional offering.

Heather McLean examines what factors should influence a financial institution or brokers choice of FX White Label (WL) solution and strategic licensing partner to work with and in what ways WL partnerships can help trading firms to grow their market share and take advantage of fast evolving regional business growth opportunities in FX.

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

The independent trading platform provider, ActForex, started business in 1998, which was before e-Forex was launched. As the company now has traders in over 100 countries using its products, we asked CEO Ilya Sorokin to tell us more about the secret of their success.

Heather McLean discovers that starting up a new electronic foreign exchange brokerage is a task littered with pitfalls, bear traps and electronic fences. However, approaching this entrepreneurial mission well researched means you will be well armed to overcome the problems and take the strategic decisions that lie ahead.

Panda Trading Systems is a leading FX trading technology provider specializing in system integration, MetaTrader server-side technology and fully customizable developments, available on-demand. New and veteran brokers turn to the Panda TS’ advisory services to learn how to best accelerate reaction to market trends and adopt new technologies while minimizing operational risks and costs.

Leverate has been recognized as one of the leading IT Solutions providers at the forefront of the Forex industry. The company provides turnkey trading technology solutions and offers a complete suite of products and services for financial institutions and brokers.

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.

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.

Regulation, transparency and risk all combine in today’s electronic foreign exchange market to add complexity for those working in this area. With this in mind, Heather McLean takes a look at how the market is meeting the need for more flexible FX margining configurations.

Heather McLean explores why FX brokers should consider outsourcing many of their back office functions and in what ways outsourced analytical procedures can be applied to a brokers risk, compliance and trading activities to facilitate more efficient business operations.

The retail FX business has always been a market that generated a fair amount of wariness among banks. Generally speaking no bank turns down a customer but retail customers are not always profitable prospects. This lack of profit does not result from a poor risk and reward equation or the too great a threat of default. Instead it is the result of poor operational economics and the cost of processing so many different customers for so little value. In this article Nicholas Pratt examines how new post trade FX processing solutions can help reduce some of the draw backs associated with delivering retail FX services and also assist providers to take advantage of new business opportunities.

Boston Technologies (BT) is well known as the company that pioneered the MT4 Liquidity Bridge, which is a means of routing trades placed in the MetaTrader platform to an external liquidity provider, such as a large bank or brokerage.  While the Liquidity Bridge has evolved into a powerful execution and risk management tool – and it remains our flagship product - our sights have turned towards innovating in other areas where we feel trading institutions have been underserved.

Excellence in quotes aggregation, latency detection with advanced risk control on the back and front ends, as well as near perfect real time reconciliation/synchronicity between the MT4 platform and back office systems are all becoming critical to broker performance, and profitability in an increasingly competitive FX marketplace. e-Forex talks to some of the leading MT4 Bridge providers to discover more about how different bridging technologies are characterised and what are the key trends in this relatively new, and specialized field.

January 13, 2010, is a date that many of us in the world of Forex regulation will not soon forget. On that day, the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”), after almost two years of deliberation, proposed a set of regulations that created a tsunami of outcry in the retail foreign exchange market. These long-awaited rules were a product of the 2008 Farm Bill that intended to require registration of US introducing brokers, commodity trading advisors and commodity pool operators. Instead, these 192 pages of densely-worded legislation created an international uproar due to the CFTC’s efforts to curtail leverage limits to historic lows.

360^o Consulting is a consultancy based in Limassol, Cyprus (EU), which provides a variety of consulting services to the Retail Forex / CFD /Commodity investment services sector. Costas Constantinides, Director and Chief Consultant of the firm, highlights some of the key areas where the consultancy is assisting Retail FX market participants to develop their establishments and improve their business practices.

With the passing of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act (CFMA) in December 2000, the Commodities and Futures Trade Commission (CFTC) became officially responsible for regulating the retail FX market, thereby legitimizing the existence of the burgeoning retail market. Today, the retail FX market is booming with strong adoption across all major financial centers.

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..

With Paul Inkster, Head of Product at Barclays Stockbrokers, Sanjay Madgavkar, Global Head of Retail FX trading at Citi and Betsy Waters, Global Head of dbFX at Deutsche Bank.

With the world’s financial markets still engulfed in the global economic crisis, the appeal of the forex market has never been greater. In addition to the major advantages of 24 hour activity and virtually limitless liquidity, forex is a market that continues to provide significant speculation opportunities while other markets are struggling to maintain stability. These advantages are apparent and thus raise the question: why aren’t more people trading forex

The appeal of online forex trading might actually get a boost from the disarray in traditional asset classes like equities and real estate. Yet a decade after the popularization of Forex trading an age-old question remains: what forex broker is right for me

In the first of his regular series of articles for e-Forex on regulatory issues in FX, Felix Shipkevich General Counsel at CMS Forex looks at recent efforts to enforce regulations in Retail FX and what holds the key to successful regulation in the future.

Retail FX is proving to be a massive draw for banks, brokers and financial institutions. These businesses are eager to benefit from the growing retail FX market, which has recently seen tremendous growth. Yet, getting into this specialist area using in-house technology and knowledge is not as easy as many first thought; the answer for many is White Labelling.

The FX market is attractive to investors because it is uncorrelated with equity markets. A managed account provides an investor with the opportunity to participate in the FX market and benefit from its high profit potential without having to trade for themselves. Accounts are also actively managed, so the investor is not invested in the market all the time. Heather McLean looks at what's involved and the key importance of trading technology in FX Managed Accounts.

Hjalmar Schröder and Hans-Jörg Sollberger discuss the opportunities that retail FX margin trading platforms offer to both hedgers and speculators and its future growth prospects.

Heather McLean explores why the rapid and exciting growth of Retail FX is dependent upon the ability to supply clients with both state-of-the-art trading technology as well as superior service provision.

Paul Ronan focuses on the technological impact associated with entering the retail FX market, and what banks should be doing to overcome the challenges involved.

The spotlight is now on the retail FX sector, which could bring new revenue streams for those banks quick enough to respond. Frances Maguire investigates

Steven Petillo evaluates the potential for the retail foreign exchange market in China and what’s shaping the electronic trading landscape in the country.

Heather Mclean talks to leading retail FX trading providers about the growing importance of providing value-added and customer relationship services to help maintain customer loyalty.

Mike Thrower examines why banks are looking to target the increasing growth in flows originating from Retail FX investors and what’s required to enable them to deliver a professional margin trading solution.

Heather McLean talks to a selection of leading Retail FX brokers about their rapidly growing marketplace and the decision of several large banks to move into this space.

Paddy Osborn analyses the pros and cons of service distribution and examines developments that will shape the future delivery of FX market data and technical analysis.

Peter Kelleher outlines the range of solutions that are required to cater for the growth of margin trading.

Heather McLean interviews industry players to see why Trading Arcades & Prop shops are growing in influence and how their trading models differ.