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eFX 'Explainers'

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The electronification of FX trading has gathered pace over the past few years, with the majority of FX trades now executed electronically. The eRisk Explainers series produced by HSBC’s Global Markets eRisk Quant Trading desk gives deeper insights on how the electronic FX market operates, including the role of different venues in electronic trading, liquidity provider selection and the use of execution algorithms in FX markets.

FX Venues

Today, various types of interbank trading platforms operate in different segments of the FX market. These platforms can be broadly categorised as Primary Venues (holding ‘authority’ in most global, liquid FX Spot currencies), Secondary Venues (present in space not dominated by the Primary Venues), and Alternative Venues (such as Dark Pools, Exchanges and ‘Pair Trading’).

Connectivity & Colocation

Dealer-to-customer transactions make up the largest part of FX market volume. Firms may connect to Liquidity Providers in different ways, including through Single Dealer Platforms, Multi Dealer Platforms, Direct APIs or Anonymous ECNs. Technology considerations also come into play as Liquidity Providers contend with colocation, and different technologies for pricing and risk management.

Liquidity Selection & Analytics

Liquidity Provider selection is important for clients to curate a liquidity pool to suit their needs. We provide a range of analytics and tools to support our clients in understanding FX market dynamics including implied rates, depth profiles and correlation analysis.

Algo Execution

Algo execution is a popular alternative to more traditional risk transfer execution, where clients take on execution / price risk in exchange for greater control of their execution strategy. Consideration should be given to different algo types, the limitations of algo execution, and measuring success through transaction cost analysis.

Treasury Beyond Borders

With economic signals sending very mixed messages, supply chains shifting underfoot

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