Citi Withdraws From Two-Thirds of FX Platforms

In October last year, one of the world’s largest financial conglomerates, Citi, began testing the effectiveness of cooperation with Forex platforms. According to the research, the company confirmed its intention to sharply reduce its global ambitions in the forex space, breaking the ties with more than half of the trading platforms it provides quotes with.

The Financial Times reports that the company has confirmed this decision as part of a cost-cutting program. It is obvious that it will not pass without a trace for the forex trading market since Citigroup is one of the largest dealers in this industry.

According to the sources, Citi is seeking to cut the total number of supported platforms from 45 to 15 by the first quarter of 2020. “We just give our customers time to switch,” it said.

According to the report, Brian McCappin, global head of Citi FX institutional sales, added that Citi will conduct annual reviews of the forex platforms with which it works. New platforms will likely have to present a detailed business plan in order to connect to the system.

Such a decision results in savings from 5 to 10 million dollars a year. This is due to the fact that according to the results of the assessment, most platforms do not bring money.

Over the past ten years, multi-bank multi-user platforms have revolutionized foreign exchange trading. According to the Financial Times, at least two other major banks are considering using external systems.

Increased attention to trading platforms is likely to be directed to smaller systems that are already under pressure due to low volatility. Large platforms such as Reuters-owned FXall and the 360T Deutsche Börse are likely to retain their place as the primary choice for banks.