Merrill Lynch has joined multi-bank currency exchange Currenex. The move comes hard on the heels of the recruitment of a further seven banks to rival bank-backed portal Atriax.
Currenex has so far signed up more than 20 banks to provide prices and liquidity on its foreign exchange trading service, FXtrades. It is battling with bank-backed ventures such as FXall and Atriax, and other third party portals such as CFOWeb, for market share in the race to links banks with corporations and fund managers for Web-based FX price discovery and trade execution.
Keith Jacobson, managing director and global head of foreign exchange at Merrill Lynch, says invovlement with Currenex "will significantly enhance our online offerings to clients who trade in FX products".