US investment bank UBS has made a new addition to its EM FX trading team with the appointment of former Nomura trader, Scott Rosenthal.
Based out of London, Rosenthal takes on the role of Executive Director, EM FX Options Trader, and he brings nearly ten years of experience in Forex and emerging markets trading. Most recently, Rosenthal served in a similar position, initially as an emerging markets options trader, at Nomura from 2016 until he left this month.
Scott Rosenthal
During his four-year tenure with the UK arm of the Asia-headquartered financial services group, he worked in providing Liquidity to the client franchise through market-making of both vanilla and exotic currency options, focusing on emerging market currencies in the CEEMEA region.
Prior to taking up his role with Nomura, Rosenthal had been a Foreign Exchange Options Trader at Morgan Stanley, where he stayed from 2012 to 2016. However, this was not his first rodeo with the US investment bank as he initially joined Morgan as Spring Intern back in 2010.
UBS invests in algo technology
EMFX is an important product in UBS's offering to its global client base, which also includes market-making, prime brokerage, post-trade, and execution services in the foreign exchange market.
On the FX options front, the bank makes the market and provides execution choice across a range of vanilla, exotic, and multi-leg products in more than 300 pairs. And the bank, in general, is looking at foreign exchange as an area to expand. Last year, UBS was the first global bank to launch a new electronic eFX pricing and trading engine in Singapore.
Options volumes surged to nearly $300 billion a day, according to the Bank for International Settlements’ latest survey, mirroring a pick-up in the spot market and reflecting strong trends in OTC sectors.
UBS is not only expanding its FX product suite but is also investing millions in algo technology as it cuts back on trading teams and relies more on automated strategies to trade more efficiently. Earlier in May, the bank launched the ORCA-Direct platform, which is utilizing machine learning technology to carry on FX trades and help clients find the best available liquidity when volatility rises.
