GLOBAL- Citibank has joined FX Connect, State Street’s multi-bank electronic foreign exchange trading system, and the electronic platform FXall following the collapse of the rival system Atriax last week.

Atriax was launched with $80m by Reuters and the world’s three largest forex dealers- Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase and Deutsche Bank but struggled to attract institutional and corporate clients. JP Morgan Chase and Deutsche Bank have also said they will join FXall as liquidity providers.

FX Connect was created in 1996 giving it a head start on later ventures such as Atriax, FXall and Currenex. In 2000, it began live trading with Deutsche Bank and now has over thirty banks participating.

The collapse of Atriax is one of the most high profile among the numerous online systems for trading equities, bonds and other financial products.

It leaves the other three to fight over market share- State Street’s FX Connect has around 75% of the daily $1.2trn business while the other two share the remaining quarter.

Simon Wilson-Taylor, head of State Street’s Global Link, said: “with the inclusion of Citibank, FX Connect is now able to meet its clients’ total needs for access to all their preferred counterparty banks,”

Phil Weisberg, CEO of FXall said: “we are very pleased to welcome our new liquidity providers. This is great news for customers, and for the industry as a whole.”


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