ICAP and Korea Money Brokerage Corp., Koreas largest interdealer broker, have formed a strategic alliance to further develop electronic spot foreign exchange trading in Korea.
The strategic alliance will offer increased access to ICAPs spot FX electronic trading platform EBS, initially in G7 currencies, and enable ICAP and Korea Money Brokerage Corp. to leverage their two networks andoffer joint marketing activities.
“This partnership leverages the strengths of Korea Money Brokerage Corp. and ICAP, both leaders in electronic brokerage, to provide reliable and transparent access to the global FX liquidity pool for local Korean market participants. We believe that this alliance will make a significant contribution to the Korean FX market, acceleratingelectronic spot FX trading in the region, as well as helping ICAP further develop its business in Korea,” says Mark Monahan, CEO, ICAP Electronic Broking – Asia Pacific.
“The alliance of ICAP and Korea Money Brokerage Corp. will support the development of currency trading in Korea and offer Korean traders additional transparency, reliability and liquidity from a diverse group of global counterparties. It will also contribute to strengthening KMBs competitiveness in the market,” adds Byoungil Kim, president and CEO, Korea Money Brokerage Corp.
The FX market in Korea has been growing rapidly in recent years. According to the Bank of Korea, average daily FX transaction volume in the Korean interbank market was approximately $20 billion in 2007, up 76%on 2006.
ICAP is a trading venue for spot FX, forward FX, FX options and non-deliverable forwards for both electronic trading and voice broking. The EBS platform is an award-winning, screen-based anonymous dealing system for professional spot traders.
Trading volumes on EBS grew strongly in 2007 with average daily volumes up 28% year on year to $182 billion. Average daily volumes onEBS in March 2008 reached a record level of $253.1 billion.