The electronic foreign exchange unit for ICAP, EBS, announced that traders on its EBS Direct platform have gained the ability to connect through the latest industry standard FIX API 4.4. The move comes after this segment of EBS has been growing fast in tandem with changes in the industry.
Disclosed Liquidity platforms such as EBS Direct have gained traction in recent quarters as the needs of the FX market have been evolving. The prices that are displayed on EBS Direct are separate from the anonymous prices on the standard EBS Market platform with traders being able to choose to execute on either disclosed or anonymous prices.
The relationship-based EBS Direct platform allows traders to better manage existing and create new connections with specific Liquidity Providers . After the introduction of the latest version of the industry standard FIX API protocol, ICAP’s electronic foreign exchange and bonds unit, EBS BrokerTec is opening its doors to new customers, becoming a viable alternative to competing solutions.
Up until now, liquidity consumers have been able to access EBS Direct via the EBS Workstation, EBS Global Access, which is a web-based trading solution and EBS Ai which is a proprietary API of EBS.
Commenting on the matter, the Global Head of EBS Direct, Jeff Ward, said, “Introducing a FIX 4.4 API is a big milestone for EBS Direct. It will not only improve the trading experience for existing customers, but it will also open us up to new customer segments as we alleviate some of the work previously required to onboard.”
EBS Direct is the fastest growing segment of the business of ICAP in electronic foreign exchange, the average daily trading volumes increased from $5 to $18 billion between April 2014 and October 2015. The offering currently provides access to liquidity in 86 currency pairs from 28 liquidity providers, reaching about 400 liquidity consumers which use the service.
