London, 19 November 2020 – The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March this year drove trading volume through the roof when most of the industry was working from home. This experience underlines the competitive advantages of having consolidated trading platforms that are accessible, resilient, and scalable. But while technological developments have benefited FX markets considerably, the pandemic has been a reminder of the continuing importance of human discretion in FX trading, with many on the buy-side relying on their relationships with clients in a time of unprecedented volatility and uncertainty.

This report highlights a number of themes, such as changes to average daily volume along the lines of geographies, FX instruments, and market participant types; touches on automation in FX markets as well as the enduring value of the skill set of the modern trader; and takes an objective look at the future of the U.S. dollar. This report is based on interviews with over 20 FX market participants and draws upon publicly available data.

This 38-page Impact Report contains 21 figures and two tables. Clients of Aite Group’s Institutional Securities & Investments service can download this report, the corresponding charts, and the Executive Impact Deck.

This report mentions 360T, Bank for International Settlements (BIS), Bloomberg, FXall, and FX Connect.