IG Group has been busy today as earlier they released the Full Year financial results to the public. Following the earlier news, they are also now launching IG Labs live today. IG Labs is a developer portal providing access to the firm’s web API to enable the creation of trading applications for IG account holders. In addition to the API access, IG Labs will also include a developer community which is expected to go live in August.
According to IG, the broker envisions that the API access will provide greater control to traders in their trading, as they will be able to create apps to fit their needs. Examples of potential apps are charting and sentiment tools, as well as software for algorithmic trading. The IG Labs launch occurs as a greater percentage of brokers and technology providers have been opening up their API to users or creating app marketplaces for developers to monetize their products. Examples include OANDA, which opened its FXTrade API in June, as well as Leverate and X Open Hub which followed Tradable’s lead and created app marketplaces for their platforms last year.
Answering Forex Magnates whether IG also has current plans to expanding their offering to include an app marketplace to incentivize developers, Ivan Gowan, Head of IT Development answered no, stating that "As a heavily regulated financial services business, regulated by 7 different bodies globally, 3rd party integrations pose a number of challenges. The API is available for companies to be able to integrate with and offer services to clients. This will be dependent on a commercial relationship being established, the third parties regulatory status amongst other things. There are currently no plans for a market place at this stage."
In terms of IG Labs, the broker provides API access for all of its trading instrument, such as stock, commodities, Forex and equity index CFDs. Accessible information includes real-time and historical pricing, client sentiment information, open and historical trades and balances, and order entry settings.
On the technical side, IG explained that the API is composed of a Streaming and REST Trading API. Data for the REST API is provided in JSON format with IG adding,“It is client programming language agnostic, meaning a developer can build their own trading system in their language of choice - .NET, Java, JavaScript, Excel to name a few." The API can also be accessed on standard SSL port (443).
In terms of what led to opening up their web API after years of keeping it closed, Gowan answered "We have been heavily focussed on providing world class mobile and web trading platforms for our client base. IG has had a FIX API for a number of years and are now offering a more accessible retail API to open up to a wider audience of people."
