The mean daily trading volumes in foreign exchange market rose in March, with the trades well above the $5 trillion level for the third consecutive month, according to a report by forex settlement system CLS.
The cumulative daily volume of requests sent to CLS, combining aggregation and settlement services rose to 1,155,507 last month, which was higher than 1,150,663 recorded in February. The growth in volumes in March from February indicated a surge in volumes on FXall, a buyside forex platform owned by Thomson Reuters and ICAP-controlled EBS.
The average daily forex trades on Thomson Reuters Matching platform, however, plunged from $113 billion in February to $110 billion in March.
**relatedarticle**
Elsewhere, Saxo Bank became the first European retail broker to provide access to IEX, which is an alternative trading system (ATS) that emphasizes investor performance and protection by shying away from high frequency trading.
The Denmark-based bank access to IEX on its platform rolled out on Wednesday this week, for both cash shares and CFDs. Clients with accounts that are allowed “advanced orders or algo orders†will access the platform. IEX is wholly owned by a consortium of mutual funds, family offices and hedge funds.
The move follows recent announcements by two U.S. retail brokers TradeStation and Interactive Brokers, who said they will soon link with the platform. Commenting on the move, Saxo Bank’s Head of Markets Claus Nielsen said;
“Saxo Bank has for some time been including IEX in our SOR venue selection. Yesterday, Saxo Bank took a next step and introduced a direct route to IEX as we believe in providing our clients with the ability to make choices themselves, choices they believe in and choices that will, hopefully, optimise their trading opportunities.â€
To contact the reporter of this story; Yashu Gola at yashu@forexminute.com
