EBS, ICAP's electronic FX business, announced today that EBS Direct has averaged a month-on-month growth in average daily volumes of 70% since launching in November 2013.
EBS Direct is a relationship-based disclosed Liquidity service which works alongside its ECN platform. According to the announcement, EBS Direct now has 458 liquidity consumers in 35 countries using the service, with 176 active users around the world. New functionality and further currency pairs have also been added to the platform since its launch.
ICAP only provides total monthly volumes for EBS, including EBS Direct volumes and not as a separate figure. Speaking with Forex Magnates, an ICAP spokesperson declined to provide exact numbers of the EBS Direct volumes separate from the total EBS volumes. The spokesperson said: "We're unable to provide that level of detail regarding our volumes for EBS as we don't break down overall volumes in this way."
Last month, the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) became the most recent liquidity provider to be added to the platform, according to ICAP. Completing their first trade on June 10, ANZ also became the first Australian bank liquidity provider on EBS Direct, and as such the first in the Southern Hemisphere. The addition of ANZ to EBS Direct gives customers access and deeper liquidity to the Australian and New Zealand dollar, spot Asian currencies including CNH, as well as broad support for other spot FX pairs.
Luke Marriott, Global Head of Wholesale FX at ANZ, commented: “With the growing importance of AUD and CNH in the FX and world markets, ANZ are working with EBS Direct to facilitate enhanced liquidity for our clients in these and other key pairs. As users of the platform, we appreciate the value of relationship-based liquidity i.e. better execution through deeper liquidity and tighter pricing. The EBS Direct global distribution network is impressive – it allows regional banks like us to support the trading needs of a much wider client base with customised liquidity than would otherwise be possible.”
Jeff Ward, Global Head of EBS Direct, said in the announcement: “We've seen tremendous growth both in volumes and customers on EBS Direct, exceeding our expectations at this stage. We’re continuing to make enhancements to the platform and form strategic partnerships with Liquidity Providers to grow our customer offering. ANZ’s decision to adopt EBS Direct as a key trading channel to price clients is further testament to its value as a global platform. It also supports our strategy of growing our FX offering, and expanding both our regional and global footprint.”
