Bloomberg, the financial data, analytics and technology provider, has announced the release of its executable streaming for non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) on FXGO, its global foreign exchange    Trading Platform  Trading Platform In the FX space, a currency trading platform is a software provided by brokers to their respective client base, garnering access as traders in the broader market. Most commonly, this reflects an online interface or mobile app, complete with tools for order processing.Every broker needs one or more trading platforms to accommodate the needs of different clients. Being the backbone of the company’s offering, a trading platform provides clients with quotes, a selection of instruments to trade, real-time updates on quotes, charts and is the main frontend which customers are facing.Brokers either use existing trading platforms and sometimes customize them, or develop their own platform from scratch. Since the beginning of the retail FX trading business MetaQuotes and its platforms MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5) have been the industry standard, especially when it comes to automated trading.MT4 Shows Resiliency While MT4 has long been seen as ubiquitous amongst brokers’ offerings, a targeted push by MetaQuotes themselves has led to broader adoption of MT5 in recent years. Advanced trading platforms such as MT4 or MT5 also allow access to a wide range of asset classes available for trading.The development of trading platforms over the past decade has failed to successfully dethrone MT4 or MT5, notably in the retail market. However, in institutional markets, brokerage companies and banking entities also construct and utilize proprietary currency trading platforms to help satisfy internal needs with trades executed through institutional trading channels.By far the most important parameter for many retail clients is the optionality and pairs available on trading platforms. Additionally, demand by traders has led to a greater emphasis on newer features such as advanced charting and other tools. In the FX space, a currency trading platform is a software provided by brokers to their respective client base, garnering access as traders in the broader market. Most commonly, this reflects an online interface or mobile app, complete with tools for order processing.Every broker needs one or more trading platforms to accommodate the needs of different clients. Being the backbone of the company’s offering, a trading platform provides clients with quotes, a selection of instruments to trade, real-time updates on quotes, charts and is the main frontend which customers are facing.Brokers either use existing trading platforms and sometimes customize them, or develop their own platform from scratch. Since the beginning of the retail FX trading business MetaQuotes and its platforms MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5) have been the industry standard, especially when it comes to automated trading.MT4 Shows Resiliency While MT4 has long been seen as ubiquitous amongst brokers’ offerings, a targeted push by MetaQuotes themselves has led to broader adoption of MT5 in recent years. Advanced trading platforms such as MT4 or MT5 also allow access to a wide range of asset classes available for trading.The development of trading platforms over the past decade has failed to successfully dethrone MT4 or MT5, notably in the retail market. However, in institutional markets, brokerage companies and banking entities also construct and utilize proprietary currency trading platforms to help satisfy internal needs with trades executed through institutional trading channels.By far the most important parameter for many retail clients is the optionality and pairs available on trading platforms. Additionally, demand by traders has led to a greater emphasis on newer features such as advanced charting and other tools. Read this Term.

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First Participant

With one of the most extensive foreign exchange offerings across the globe, Standard Chartered Bank will be the first    Liquidity   Liquidity Liquidity is at the core of every broker’s offering. It is a basic characteristic of every financial asset - be it a currency, stock, bond, commodity or real estate. The more liquid an asset is, the easier it is to sell and buy on the open market. Foreign exchange is considered to be the most liquid asset class.Brokers can source liquidity from a single or multiple source, thereby delivering to their clients enough market depth for their orders to get filled. The main characteristic of liquidity is its depth, which will determine how quickly and how big of an order can be executed via the trading platform.Understanding LiquidityLiquidity can be internal or external depending on the size and the book of the broker. Companies which are large enough and have material client flows consistently are creating their own liquidity pools from the order flow of their clients, thereby internalizing flows and saving on costs to send customer orders to the interbank market. By doing that however they are exposing themselves to carry the risk on the trade.Liquidity providers can be prime brokers, prime of primes, other brokers or the broker’s book itself. Traditionally brokers are split between internalizing flows and offloading trades of their clients to different liquidity providers.Generally, retail brokers and their clients prefer more liquid assets which lead to better fill rates and less slippage. When there is lack of liquidity on a certain market, slippage can occur - the order is executed at a price which is the closest available to the one requested by the client. Liquidity is at the core of every broker’s offering. It is a basic characteristic of every financial asset - be it a currency, stock, bond, commodity or real estate. The more liquid an asset is, the easier it is to sell and buy on the open market. Foreign exchange is considered to be the most liquid asset class.Brokers can source liquidity from a single or multiple source, thereby delivering to their clients enough market depth for their orders to get filled. The main characteristic of liquidity is its depth, which will determine how quickly and how big of an order can be executed via the trading platform.Understanding LiquidityLiquidity can be internal or external depending on the size and the book of the broker. Companies which are large enough and have material client flows consistently are creating their own liquidity pools from the order flow of their clients, thereby internalizing flows and saving on costs to send customer orders to the interbank market. By doing that however they are exposing themselves to carry the risk on the trade.Liquidity providers can be prime brokers, prime of primes, other brokers or the broker’s book itself. Traditionally brokers are split between internalizing flows and offloading trades of their clients to different liquidity providers.Generally, retail brokers and their clients prefer more liquid assets which lead to better fill rates and less slippage. When there is lack of liquidity on a certain market, slippage can occur - the order is executed at a price which is the closest available to the one requested by the client. Read this Term provider to participate, allowing the bank to contribute executable pricing across a wide range of Asian and Latin American non-deliverable currencies to cater to the needs of its corporate and institutional clients.

Standard Chartered is helping to lead the way when the global market is looking for new ways to improve liquidity.

The solution integrates the power of Bloomberg’s FX execution and straight through processing (STP) tools with Standard Chartered’s robust provision of liquidity. It offers a seamless end-to-end workflow for NDF trading to the global community of Standard Chartered clients who wish to enjoy seamless execution using the Bloomberg Terminal.

According to a recent survey by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), foreign exchange is the largest and most liquid market in the world, averaging US$5.1 trillion a day. NDFs function as an important trading, hedging and investment vehicle and are a growing part of the FX ecosystem, currently representing 19 percent of the FX forwards market.

Standard Chartered currently provides access to over 130 emerging market and G10 currencies across a wide array of products and delivery platforms.

Increased Access

Tod Van Name, Bloomberg’s Global Head of FX Electronic Trading, said: "Expanding Bloomberg’s Foreign Exchange trading platform, FXGO, to support streaming of NDFs enables us to give the FX community more access to emerging markets, while bringing new levels of automation, trading efficiency and market transparency to our clients. Standard Chartered is helping to lead the way at a time when the global market is looking for new ways to improve liquidity, and via one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing FX platforms.”

Executable NDF prices are available on FXGO’s trading grid, a Bloomberg Launchpad component that offers streaming prices from leading liquidity providers, all in one place. FXGO also provides subscribers with seamless tools for end-to-end execution of spot, forwards, options, precious metals and deposits.

Mark Webster, Global Head of FX Sales at Standard Chartered, added: “Being the first to offer streaming rates for NDFs on Bloomberg, we are increasing market transparency, making the NDF market more efficient, and giving our clients the latest technology to find better pricing - faster.”