Citi launches FX e-commerce platform

Citi officially launched CitiFX Velocity, the bank's new global foreign exchange e-commerce platform for professional traders, in Asia-Pacific on Wednesday.

Users will be able to customise orders and deal execution, while having access to constant streaming prices for spot, forwards and options transactions. The platform covers all stages of the process, that is, pre-trade, trade and post-trade. Citi's market research and technical analysis will also be available to clients.

The platform has the advantage of incorporating the latest technology and features from scratch and is easy to use and adapt for individual purposes. It allows customised screens and order management, including: stack pricing (filling parts of large orders at different prices simultaneously at a weighted average price); time "slice" orders (placing limits for a deal that need to be completed within a specified period); and electronic price "request for quote"  for transaction sizes exceeding the auto-trade limits.  

"With CitiFX Velocity, using advanced order types to execute trades is simple," says Nadir Mahmud, Citi's Asia-Pacific head of foreign exchange and local markets. "Our weighted-average pricing allows clients to determine the approximate price for the exact fill size required. Our fully customisable 'time slice' feature allows clients to execute a time-weighted average price order, enabling them to control the market impact," adds Mahmud.

The "spot exchange model" enables users to trade against other clients' interest, with the option of viewing either the full depth or the top of the book, and deal in any size. Users can place limit, market, pegged and trailing-stop orders as close to the prevailing market as desirable. CitiFX Velocity users can also click and trade streaming spot, forward outrights or swaps. Also, Citi supports several different technology vendors, allowing for easy straight-through trade processing.

Joe Fong, a director, and Janice Chan, assistant vice-president, in Citi's corporate sales and structuring department have been busy since December marketing the FX platform in Hong Kong, and other teams are selling it across Asia. They claim to have achieved a more than 80% take-up rate from potential customers they've approached. Already, the system is attracting daily volumes in Asia of about $2 billion. The platform was first launched in Europe and the US back in September.

"This new product underlines Citi's focus on providing our clients with innovative products in the FX space. It also underlines our continued commitment to our clients across Asia-Pacific to invest in technology and infrastructure to meet their evolving needs in the foreign exchange markets," says Lung Nien-Lee, co-head of corporate sales and structuring for Asia-Pacific and global markets head for Singapore.