Hotspot Enjoys May Volatility with increase in Daily Trade Volumes MoM 14%

The French Elections and further uncertainty have had a positive impact on trading volumes, Gold dropped below the all important 1600 mark and EUR USD swiftly declined to reach a low of 1.23.

Overall, May has been a positive month FX trade volumes. ECN Hotspot maintains MoM volumes increase.

1. MAY 2012 Volume

In May 2012, Hotspot FX volumes bounced back from a slower April, but remain below 2011 levels, in line with broader industry trends. Average Daily Volume (ADV) increased 14% to $56.5 billion in May with a total of $1,299.2 billion transacted through the platform. Among publicly reported spot FX volumes (Hotspot FX, ICAP/EBS, Reuters, FXall); Hotspot FX accounted for 8.5% of the volume in April 2012.

MAY 2012 Statistics:

Hotspot FX posted an ADV of $56.5 billion. (based on 23 trading days)
- ADV increased 14% versus April 2012. (April 2012 ADV: $49.8 billion)
- ADV declined 16% versus May 2011. (May 2011 ADV: $67.8 billion)
- Total Volume: $1,299.2 billion.

Monthly Statistics:

USD Dollar Value Traded	Average Daily Volume (ADV)
May 2012	$1,299.2 Billion	$56.5 Billion
May 2011	$1,491.0 Billion	$67.8 Billion

2. MAY 2012 Volume Breakdown

In May 2012, the Americas session closed in on the gap with Europe with a 2.77% increase in volume. Activity in the European and Asian sessions slid by 2.60% and .19% respectively.

Volume percentages by time zone were:

Asia	Europe	Americas
Volume Percentage (May 2012)	11.45%	45.28%	43.26%
Volume Percentage (April 2012)	11.64%	47.88%	40.49%

The top five currency pairs by volume percentage were as follows:

Currency Pair	EUR/USD	AUD/USD	GBP/USD	USD/JPY	USD/CAD
Percentage	41.75%	12.97%	11.25%	9.66%	6.41%

In May 2012, EUR/USD gained 1.45% in market share from last month thus continues to be our most active pair. Additionally, significant movement occurred in USD/JPY which fell sharply from 2^nd (-2.84%) and swapped places with AUD/USD to become the 4^th most active pair; AUD/USD gained +1.79%. The remaining pairs in the top 10 experienced modest shifts in volume and/or stayed unchanged in the ranking. The majority of the remaining pairs in the top 20 experienced an uptick in volume and shuffled in the ranks. With the exception of EUR/CHF, AUD/NZD and USD/RUB which declined, volume in the other pairs increased by .08%+; several nearly doubled in growth. Most notable: EUR/AUD climbed .19% to become 16^th (18^th in April 2012), EUR/NOK increased +.16% to become 18^th (from 19^th ), and EUR/SEK gained + .15% to 14^th (from 16^th). Lastly, USD/ZAR made its debut in the listing and AUD/CAD fell off.

Hotspots top 20 currency pairs by volume percentage and time zone were:

EST- Asia: 5pm - 2am Europe: 2am - 9am US: 9am - 5pm

3. MAY 2012 Relative Volume Chart

Hotspot’s May ADV compares to the following results from other reporting venues:

May 2012 vs. April 2012	May 2012 vs. May 2011
Hotspot FX	+14%	-16%
EBS/ICAP	+19%	-25%
Reuters	+18%	-4%
FXall (Active Trading Segment)	+7%	+16%
CME	+24%	-4%

Sources: Hotspot FX, CME Group, EBS/ICAP, Reuters, FXall (Active Trading Segment)

Notes:

Hotspot FX volumes reflect the total client volume transacted on the platform which is equal to the sum of all activity executed by each client during the period.

All comparative volume data has been normalized to account for different counting methodologies. Average Daily Volume (ADV) reported by each platform may not be based on the same number of trading days for a given month due to observed national or bank holidays unique to a given platform. Hotspot FX counts each day that the platform is open as a valid trading day.