ParFX Expands as Citi and JP Morgan Join the Community

ParFX the interbank FX trading unit under Tradition, a leading inter-dealer broker, has been gradually expanding its footprint among tier-1 banks as it builds its trading community. The latest banks to join are Citi and J.P. Morgan. The move highlights ParFX’s commitment to creating a transparent and efficient environment for financial institutions operating in the FX markets.

ParFX’s community of banking institutes tops 14 with the addition of two of the world’s largest FX players. The addition of Citi and J.P. Morgan, two founder banks, further expands ParFX’s global distribution network as the platform was opened to the wider FX trading community in early 2014.

ParFX was a joint collaboration between leading banks and innovators at Tradition. The founders have been active in the design of the platform since its inception and will continue to play a fundamental role in its development and evolution.

Mike Leibowitz, Chairman of ParFX, commented about the addition of the two banks in a statement, he said: “This is another significant step forward for both ParFX and the global FX market as a whole, and we are delighted to welcome Citi and J.P. Morgan onboard.”

Richard Bibbey, Global Head of Electronic FX Trading at Citi, commented: “Citi believes a competitive marketplace, offering an array of products and services is in the best interest of our clients and the industry. The ParFX platform is designed to offer efficient, reliable execution for participants and we are excited to be joining as a founder.”

With emerging market nations playing a more significant role in the global economy, micro and exotic currency pairs have seen traction in trading activity, as reported by the BIS in the recent Triennial FX Survey. According to the data compiled, USD CNY has increased significantly from three years earlier, in 2010 it had a global market share of 0.80%, the latest figures saw the pair contribute 2.1% of daily trades.

Daniel Marcus, CEO of ParFX added: “We believe that an established global distribution network, combined with our ethos of transparency and bringing a simple, practical and versatile solution to participants, will set the foundations for stable growth and attract participation from all sectors of the market. There is growing interest in the platform and we look forward to continuing to facilitate Liquidity over the coming year.”

The FX markets have seen a sharp rise in the number of non-bank players transacting in the asset class. The buy-side is embracing the instrument as markets behave in an interoperable manner, furthermore, fund managers have seen how traditional trading strategies used in equities or futures can be applied in FX to generate alpha.

Roger Rutherford, COO at ParFX, commented about the firm’s opening up to buy-side players in a comment to Forex Magnates: "In the coming months, we will open up our system to the buy-side, allowing customers to trade through their prime broker alongside the banks. We have worked alongside the prime brokers to ensure we provide credit solutions that are relevant to today’s world. Developing an open and transparent trading environment requires more innovative and elegant solutions.”

With inter-dealer players such as EBS witnessing a drop in trading activity, ParFX has opportunities to capitalize on the change in practice. The firm does not disclose volumes, however, Forex Magnates believes the portal trades in a similar range of EBS and FXall. GAIN Capital’s institutional arm saw a sharp jump in January trading figures.