Q: What is FXMarketSpace?
A: FXMarketSpace is an innovative foreign exchange trading platform that offers users:
- centrally cleared OTC trading
- fully anonymous execution
- choice of access
- industry-leading trade matching engine
Q: Who is involved in the creation of FXMarketSpace?
A: FXMarketSpace is a 50/50 joint venture between Reuters and CME.
Q: What does FXMarketSpace provide the FX market that CME and Reuters cannot provide individually?
A: FXMarketSpace offers participants the complementary functions of both of its parents. The platform combines the central counterparty model and clearing function of CME with the Reuters global distribution network and straight-through processing capability.
Q: Who benefits from using FXMarketSpace?
A: FXMarketSpace provides benefits to both the buy-side and the sell-side. The platform levels the playing field for all participants, while increasing liquidity and ensuring anonymity, all within a central FX clearing house.
Q: What new features does FXMarketSpace offer?
A: FXMarketSpace is targeted to meet the growing FX needs of banks and other financial institutions including traditional asset managers, proprietary trading firms, leveraged funds, currency overlay managers, hedge funds and CTAs. It is designed to provide increased price transparency to all, introduce trading anonymity, and heighten FX market accessibility. Combined, these three features hold enormous potential to deepen FX market liquidity and increase market efficiency for the next generation of FX trading.
Q: Is FXMarketSpace a futures market, cash market, or a combination of both?
A: FXMarketSpace is strictly a cash forex trading platform.
Q: How do customers access FXMarketSpace?
A: FXMarketSpace can be accessed through a variety of different methods including CME's iLink API, Reuters Dealing 3000 and 3000 Xtra desktops, Reuters standard transactions API, select ISVs and eFX portals of participating clearing member firms. For more information please visit our Access Web page.
Q: Can firms utilise existing connections with CME and Reuters when accessing FXMarketSpace?
A: Firms may utilise existing connections with CME to facilitate their connection to FXMarketSpace, providing additional efficiencies while reducing costs. Customers utilising FXMarketSpace from a Reuters terminal may also use their existing Reuters infrastructure. For more information, please visit our Technology Web page.
Q: What currencies are traded?
A: FXMarketSpace offers spot trading in select G7 currencies which represent 78% of FX trading activity. This includes the following six major currencies against the U.S. dollar: the Euro, Japanese Yen, British Pound, Australian Dollar, Swiss Franc and Canadian Dollar. The following four cross currency pairs are also supported: Euro/Yen, Euro/Pound, Euro/Swiss Franc, and Pound/Yen. For more information please visit our Platform Web page.
Q: What is the pricing/fee structure?
A: Prices are available on our Trading Fees Web page.
Q: What is the minimum and maximum trade size?
The minimum trade size is 1 million of the base currency and the maximum trade size is 99 million of the base currency.
Q: What differentiates FXMarketSpace from the CME’s FX products?
A: CME and FXMarketSpace offer customers access to two different pools of liquidity. CME is a regulated derivatives exchange, while FXMarketSpace is a forex cash-trading platform. Cash FX markets have significantly different product characteristics, market dynamics and associated regulatory requirements, like restrictions around market counterparty requirements.
Q: What are the trading hours for FXMarketSpace?
A: FXMarketSpace is continuously open for trading between the hours of 15:00 Central Time (Chicago) on Sunday through 16:00 Central Time (Chicago) on Friday.
Q: How large is the FX Market?
A: The FX market is the largest asset market in the world. It operates twenty-four hours a day and on any given day averages $3.2 trillion in trading volume.
Q: What are the most heavily traded currencies?
A:According to the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), the US dollar is the most actively traded currency. It is involved in 86% of all FX transactions, followed by the Euro with 37%, the Yen with 17% and the British Pound at 15%.
Q: Who trades on the FX Market?
A:Two decades ago, the majority of FX trading was conducted inter-bank. Since that time, the FX market has experienced rapid expansion and has evolved to include institutions, financial services companies, corporations and other non-financial entities. Currently, with the rise of foreign currency hedges and the increased popularity of FX as an asset class, trading by non-banks represent an increasing percentage of overall FX transactions. In a 2007 BIS survey,
- 42% of all transactions were inter-bank
- 39% were between a bank and a non-bank financial institution
- 17% were between a bank and a non-financial institution
