OTC Markets Handle Increased Demand in September

The over the counter (OTC) wholesale financial markets successfully handled increased demand during the month of September, according to ICAP, an interdealer broker. In the OTC spot FX market, average daily electronic broking volumes on ICAP's EBS platform in September reached a new high of US $274.2bn. This is an increase of 43 percent on September 2007. In the 12 months ending September 30, 2008, average daily electronic FX broking volumes on the EBS platform increased by 31 percent over the corresponding period in 2007 to $219.2bn.

Average daily volume in US Treasury products on the BrokerTec platform increased 18 percent year on year in September to $172.8bn. Total average daily electronic broking volumes at ICAP, including spot FX, US repo, EU repo and US Treasury products increased nine percent year on year in September to $903.2bn.

"The OTC financial markets are functioning very well and OTC market participants including banks, brokers, prime brokerage clients and post trade providers, have worked together to respond to the increased volatility. The EBS and BrokerTec platforms continue to deliver orderly, reliable and fair access to highly liquid and transparent markets. The high performance of our e-platforms during recent extreme conditions demonstrates ICAP's key role in the OTC markets and underscores our ability to provide value to our customers at all times," said David Rutter, deputy CEO for ICAP electronic broking, in a press release. Each month ICAP publishes average daily volume data in spot FX, U.S. Treasury and European and U.S. repo products.

Publish Date: October 03, 2008
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