After experiencing growth in September, momentum reversed for EBS in October. The FX ECN venue reported average daily volumes of $92.6 billion for the month which was 17% below September’s figures and 46% lower than October 2011. The 17% decline occurs after EBS adopting new dealing practices to encourage greater activity on its system. Nonetheless, the uncertainty and management changes at the company may be driving player away from the platform as EBS volume decline outpaced the overall decline reported by CLS Banks Settlement network earlier in the day.
Taking advantage of EBS’s misfortune, Reuters took a stab at its competitor in its report of the news as they pointed out that EBS has fallen greatly from its $250 billion ADV days of 2008 and that Thomson Reuters is now the “the leading Liquidity provider for the most widely traded currencies - the euro, yen and Swiss franc.”
ICAP announces average daily electronic broking volumes of US$674 bn for October 2012 London, 7 November 2012 – ICAP (IAP.L), the world’s leading interdealer broker and provider of post trade risk and information services, announces today that average daily volumes for October 2012 were 6% lower than in September 2012 and 17% lower than October 2011. Average daily volumes in fixed income products on the BrokerTec platform were $581.5bn, a decrease of 4% on the previous month and a decrease of 9% year-on-year. Overall repo volumes were $465.8bn in October, down 2% month-on-month and down 8% year-on-year, the latter reflecting a 7% decrease in US repo and a 10% decrease in European repo. Average daily US Treasury volumes on BrokerTec were US$115.7bn, a decrease of 12% month-on-month and 10% year-on-year. Average daily spot FX volumes on the EBS platform were $92.6bn, down 17% month-on-month and down 46% year-on-year. Despite the devastating impact of Hurricane Sandy, both the BrokerTec and EBS platforms remained fully operational. Inevitably the closure of the US bond market and the ensuing widespread disruption of New York’s financial district caused by the hurricane impacted volumes towards the end of the month. It is too early to gauge how long this disruption will continue. ICAP reports all of its electronic broking volumes on a single count basis. US Treasury average daily volumes in October 2012 were calculated based on 21 business days. This excludes the full day closure of the US Treasury market on 30 October 2012.
