The FX voice trader has not yet disappeared, and electronic trading has added to price transparency without necessarily boosting liquidity, which is fragmented across specialist platforms. But the number and market share of electronic trading platforms in all FX instruments is set to increase, and FX trading may one day be traded as just another financial asset class across a network of digital trading systems.

This news was first published on Dialogue Online.

Codes of conduct and market standards address poor behaviour in FX markets far more effectively than formal regulation − which has inadvertently altered the balance between liquidity providers and liquidity consumers, and could even discourage prudent behaviour. But, buy-side commitment and improved data transparency are recommended strategies to further improve behaviour.

The word lending is entrenched within the definition of a bank. After all, what’s the point of a bank if it doesn’t lend? But with recent economic and regulatory changes buffeting financial institutions, this particular area of business has taken a blow.

On Monday 23 September Sibos is hosting the first ever day dedicated to the foreign exchange (FX) industry. Across six sessions, separated by a keynote speech from the popular and closely followed FX research economist David Bloom of HSBC, panellists will be debating all the forces changing the shape of the FX industry: regulatory pressure, technology, liquidity, data and the renminbi.