London-based inter-dealer broker Icap has bought foreign exchange technology company EBS Group, enabling the firm to battle Reuters and others for a share of the interbank FX trading and data business.
EBS was founded by a banking consortium-including Barclays, Citigroup and Credit Suisse-in London in 1993 to develop automated systems for spot foreign exchange. The EBS spot dealing system currently handles $130 billion in currencies, 700,000 ounces of gold and 7 million ounces of silver on an average day in more than 40 countries.
“The company enjoys a strong market position in interdealer spot foreign exchange with a very broad customer base,” said Icap group chief executive Michael Spencer in a statement. “In addition, we will benefit from EBS’s well-qualified and experienced management and staff, and we welcome them to Icap.”