EBS has reported a strong start to the year, with Jan 15 vols +23.7% at $129.6bln/day, some 48.1% up on Jan 14.
The increase was driven in part by the increased volatility seen in the wake of the SNB decision to let the CHF appreciate against the Eur, which according to sources saw EBS volume that day nearly triple to $300bln. EBS volumes have now almost doubled compared to the low of $69bln/day seen in Apr 14.
EBS Jan 15 FX volumes
We will wait to see how EBS figures compare with Reuters who should report their Jan volumes next week.
January figures also coincide with EBS announcing they are launching a new HTML5 platform, dubbed a container for ‘Everything EBS’. The next generation platform will seamlessly integrate EBS’s expanding portfolio including EBS Market, EBS Direct and EBS Select and multiple FX instruments such as spot, precious metals, NDFs and outright and swaps, in a single, fully customisable view.
Interestingly, the new platform took them 2yrs to build, which feels over twice as long (and probably many times more expensive) than it would have been had they used an extensible framework such as Caplin’s HTML5 FX Motif as starting point for the project.
The new platform will include new features such as:
- Integrated visual analytics
- Advanced trading algorithms
- Aggregated views of multiple liquidity sources and types with attribution
- Diverse product support: spot, precious metals, NDFs, outrights, swaps
- Enhanced pricing views: market depth, VWAP ladders, and tenor ladders
- Customised trading views and multiple displays to accommodate trader workflow
New EBS HTML5 platform
New EBS HTML5 platform
By contrast, were EBS to have used Caplin’s FX Professional Motif as the starting point, it would have massively accelerated the development of the project, as they could have started right away with the added value features rather than by building the basic platform.
Caplin FX Professional Motif-starting point for projects
ICAP announcement of the new EBS platform
