FXall, the world's leading foreign exchange platform, today announced record annual trading volumes of over $13.4 trillion in 2007.
Trading activity highlights include:
- Volumes increase 37% year-on-year.
- Daily volume surpasses $98bn in the fourth quarter.
- Growth in trading volumes continues to be driven by new client activity, in particular from the investment community, which now accounts for over 50% of volume traded over FXall.
The record volumes coincide with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) report released in December 2007 which highlights a number of key drivers for FX market growth. Significant expansion has taken place in the dealer to customer market as buy-side and corporate participants capitalize on the value in the FX market for either hedging or investment purposes. Diversification by investors with a long term vision, such as pension funds, and increasing turnover in emerging market currencies have all led to growth in trading volume in 2007.
The growing role of algorithmic trading in the financial segment of the market, which accounted for half of the increase in total turnover over the past three years, is also seen as an important driver for rising volumes. Accelor, FXall's anonymous FX Electronic Communication Network (ECN), is at the vanguard of technology designed to meet the needs of the algorithmic trader, and was launched in 2007 to anticipate and respond to the evolution of this rapidly developing market.
Increasing focus on best execution and control and compliance has also been a factor in the growth in trading volumes over FXall as institutional FX traders, including asset managers, banks, broker-dealers, hedge funds and corporations embrace electronic trading as the execution method of choice. FXall is an industry leader in providing multiple methods to achieve best execution and a full audit trail for control and compliance and is constantly developing innovative products and services to meet the increasing demands of customers.
Phil Weisberg, Chief Executive Officer of FXall, said: "FXall holds a leading position in the inhe institutional FX trading space and these figures reflect our commitment to innovation and investment throughout our range of products and services. FX trading is a constantly evolving landscape, and with volumes continuing to rise there has been a sustained increase in demand for online platforms that offer a complete electronic solution. We look forward to ongoing growth in 2008 as we continue to meet the demands of increasingly complex participants and strategies."