02 / eTrading Consulting

eTrading & electronic FX.

From platform strategy through architecture to go-live in production — we know the vendor landscape, the technology and the market dynamics from daily practice.

What we do in eTrading

We advise banks and trading firms across the full eFX stack — from the strategic question “what role do we want to play in electronic FX” to the operational detail of “how many microseconds of latency can we squeeze out of the pricing engine”.

Most mandates fall into one of these categories: building a new platform generation, migrating from legacy to a modern architecture, targeted optimisation of individual components (pricing, hedging, risk), or strategic repositioning of the eFX offering in light of changed client demands.

Concrete topics

Platform strategy. Which market segments do you want to serve? Which products (spot, forwards, swaps, NDFs, options) belong in the electronic channel? Which client tiers, which competitive positioning? These are not technical questions — and precisely for that reason they often get the wrong answers.

Architecture and technology selection. Pricing engine, aggregation, smart order routing, automatic hedging (back-to-back or position-based), limit order management, FIX connectivity, risk reporting. We know the market-standard solutions and which components you should buy, white-label or build yourself.

Connectivity to multi-dealer platforms. Pricing into FXall, 360T, Bloomberg, FXSpotStream, EBS — each venue has its own conventions, latency profile and client base. We help with prioritisation, integration and ongoing hit-ratio optimisation.

Algorithmic execution. TWAP, VWAP, implementation shortfall, internal crossing, liquidity seeking — the algo landscape is getting more complex, and clients increasingly expect transparency on execution quality (TCA). We support building out the algo suite and integrating transaction cost analysis.

Regulatory topics. MiFID II best execution, FX Global Code, EMIR reporting, clearing topics for NDFs and options. These themes often surface late in project plans — we build them in early, so compliance is not an afterthought.

Our perspective

We come from the trading floor. Stefan spent nearly three decades at BNP, Dresdner Kleinwort and Commerzbank — as FX sales, FX structurer and early driver of the eFX business. Enrico built eTrading platforms and led FX risk-management solutions such as UCHedge and Kristall as Managing Director at UniCredit.

That means: we are not generalist consultants who pick up FX as one of many topics. We know the market structure, the typical bottlenecks in a trade lifecycle, and the vendor landscape from first-hand experience. When a vendor claims their pricing engine is “state of the art”, we know what that statement actually means — or doesn’t.

How an engagement starts

Most mandates begin with a concrete trigger: a platform decision is pending, a project has stalled, or management wants an external second opinion on strategy. We start with a workshop (one to two days), understand the status quo, identify the critical questions and jointly prioritise next steps. From this emerges a mandate scope that’s as large or small as the topic requires.

Frequently asked questions

What does eTrading in FX actually mean?

Electronic FX trading (eFX) covers everything in FX that runs through digital channels rather than voice — from streaming quotes through request-for-quote (RFQ) to fully algorithmic execution. The market has shifted there almost entirely over the past two decades.

For a bank this means: own single-dealer platform, connectivity to multi-dealer venues (FXall, 360T, Bloomberg, FXSpotStream), pricing engine, risk management, automatic hedging and increasingly algorithmic execution logic.

Build or buy — when is a proprietary platform worth it?

It depends on the business model. A bank with a large corporate book and differentiated client needs often benefits from its own platform — for branding, individual pricing and deep integration with internal risk systems. Smaller-volume houses often do fine with a white-label or pure multi-dealer connectivity.

We help make this decision data-driven — based on volume projections, competitive landscape and five-year total cost of ownership.

Which platforms and vendors do you know?

From practice: FXall (LSEG), 360T (Deutsche Börse), Bloomberg FXGO, FXSpotStream, EBS, MarketAxess. On the technology side: ION (Wallstreet Suite, Aphelion), Refinitiv (LSEG), Murex, plus specialist pricing-engine vendors and algo providers. We have direct experience with most of these — either as a bank-side client or through advisory mandates.

How long does a typical eTrading project take?

An eTrading stack is not a sprint. A complete new single-dealer platform with proprietary pricing typically takes 12 to 18 months from architecture design to go-live. Extensions or migrations are often doable in 6 to 9 months. Pure platform connectivity is achievable in 2 to 4 months.

We help cut the scope so you see productive output early — rather than landing at the end of a long waterfall with a big-bang go-live.

Sounds like your situation?

Let's have a 30-minute conversation, no commitment. We listen, give an initial view — and if we're not the right partner, we'll say so.

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