Overview

Currenex Overview
A Unique Multi-Bank Blend
Unlike most ECNs and FX portals available to industry participants, we believe Currenex liquidity and pricing is not standardized across the various prime brokers and FX dealers that offer Currenex. Each prime broker or FX dealer offering Currenex has the ability to customize liquidity providers, mark-up spreads and impose “last look” provisions on pending orders, all of which can dramatically affect trading profitability and risk.
Although many prime brokers and FX dealers claim that their Currenex blend is a true STP and inter-bank pricing model, we believe that most prime brokers or FX dealers mark-up their spreads significantly and place unreasonable last look provisions on deal flow, especially during times of increased market volatility or news events. While such practices are widely known and accepted by industry participants, with vCap FX, we believe you can access a highly customizable and unique multi-bank blend that, unlike most other Currenex providers, provides executable deal flow, tighter spreads and limited to no “last look provisions”.
Overview
Currenex provides a comprehensive suite of FX trading tools for the buy and sell sides; executable streaming prices (ESPs), request for streams (RFSs), algorithmic and benchmark trading and complete prime brokerage functionality with fully-integrated pre and post-trade processing services and unrivalled integration capabilities that provide complete Straight Through Processing (STP) to clients worldwide.
Currenex’s technology and infrastructure, designed for ease of implementation, optimizes the FX workflow processes end-to-end, using flexible templates, JAVA Swing and web applications that enable members to trade more efficiently and effectively in an online environment.
Currenex GUI
Currenex GUI
Live, streaming, executable bids and offers for instant execution. Spot prices (in client’s chosen currency pairs) displayed and refreshed in real-time on a single screen.
- Intuitive, flexible user interface; detachable, live snapshot of liquidity
- Rapid, simple integration with dealing and back-office systems
- Automated prime broker give-up and credit monitoring
- Resting limit orders filled automatically
- Customizable User Interface: resize/hide individual components of the service.
- Trades Monitor: organize, locate and act on trades and orders at various stages of the trading lifecycle.
- Messages Monitor: alerts clients to changes in the status of orders and pending actions, allowing them to quickly take the appropriate action to complete a trade.
- Templates and Drafts: One-click display enables clients to monitor the market and send trade requests; set alarms to notify clients when specified currency pairs reach user-defined levels.
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ESP™ (Executable Streaming Prices) – Institutional clients can receive live, streaming, executable bids and offers for instant execution. Spot prices (in your chosen currency pairs) displayed and refreshed in real-time on a single screen.
- New Order Types (Iceberg and Hidden Orders)
- Cancel & Rebook
- Spot Position Filters
- VWAP
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- Trade Status Area – to view order placement and execution notification offers unprecedented visual access to the status of pending deals, done deals, and resting orders; gives clients the ability to rapidly modify or cancel individual active orders, and complete partial fills.
- Advanced Market Depth choices for ESPT – Standard (set in preferences), Consolidated (aggregated price and amount available), and VWAP (volume weighted average price).
- Credit Limit button – displays the client’s credit limit(s) and how much has been used. The button itself will also change color to alert users as credit limits are approached or exceeded.
- Live update of average price, net position and all in rate of day’s Spot trades (ESPT, RFS, direct and Benchmark); copy and paste data into spreadsheets.
- Enhanced Daily Spot Positions Tab shows currency pairs by base AND term amounts; average price of all Spot buys and sells (separately and by currency pair); net position (total long and short position by currency pair) and all in rate – the all in cost average for spot transactions, including realized and unrealized P/L in the Currenex trading day (17.00 EST to 17.00 EST).
- Excel based spreadsheet trading allows the ability to have live streaming executable prices and make real-time automated trading decisions.
- Prices in any currency pair delivered according to client specifications
- Flexible, real-time rates streaming – single stream to multiple clients, customized streams to individual clients
- Incremental, profitable order flow opportunities
- SniperProtection™ detects possible abuse of liquidity by predators
Clients request prices from multiple (user-defined) banks by clicking on the real-time streaming indicative rates displayed on the ‘Currenex Rates’ screen, all responding banks are presented simultaneously. Executable prices are presented for user to select by clicking on desired counterparty price OR by using ‘Accept Selected Quote’ button to hit best price available.
- Request prices from multiple banks.
- Execute FX Spots, Forwards and Swaps and Loans and Deposits with any counterparty, in any currency.
- One-click Request for Stream execution.
- Perform post-trade actions, including rolls, amendments, allocations and settlement processes.
- Match financial and settlement details with counterparties.
- Customize the various components of the interface to meet trading and reporting needs. Control when and how to place trades for optimum efficiency and control.
- Search, display, print and download trade ticket information and access other reports for auditing purposes and for analysis of activity.
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ERFS (Enhanced Request for Streaming Prices) – Execute FX Spots, FX Forwards, FX Swaps and Loans in any currency using multiple trading methods
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The Currenex service includes flexible, automated order functionality within both the ERFS (Enhanced Request for Streaming) and ESPT trading options. Automating the order process improves trading efficiency and accuracy by eliminating errors (and potential disputes with counterparties), saving time (no need for phone confirmation that an order has been filled) and streamlining the confirmation process. Placing orders via Currenex enables complete trading records to be maintained electronically for ease of reporting and monitoring.
On the Currenex service, clients can place Limit, At Best and Stop Loss orders exclusively with user-defined bank counterparties. ESPT Limit Orders are filled automatically by the first counterparty bank to stream a price that matches the order.
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Orders – Place limit, at best and stop loss order exclusively with user-defined bank counterparties. ESP limit orders filled automatically by the first counterparty bank to stream a price that matches the order
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In response to demand from hedge funds, Currenex has added Microsoft Excel based Spreadsheet Trading to compliment its existing Execution and Order Management suite. Clients can now build their own models in Excel using Microsoft Visual Basic. It is now possible to:
- Have live streaming executable prices in Excel
- Make real-time automated trading decisions from Visual Basic
- Download executed trades into Excel
- Have Real-Time Mark to Market positions in Excel
- Calculate real time P & L
- Send multiple order types (Limit, Stop, Market) with different expiry conditions
- Send blocks of orders in batch mode from Excel
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Spreadsheet Trading – Have live executable prices in Excel. Make real-time automated trading decisions from Visual Basic. Download executed trades into Excel. Real-Time Mark to Market positions in Excel. Calculate real-time P&L. Send multiple order types (limit, stop, market) with different expiry conditions. Send blocks of orders in batch mode from Excel.
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Benchmark rates provide independently-sourced, transparent, reliable and fully-auditable prices that accurately reflect the market at specific (fixing) times. Benchmark rates (fixings) are used widely by corporations, treasuries and equity and fixed income managers to trade FOREX efficiently using independently-sourced, transparent, reliable and fully-auditable prices that accurately reflect the currency market at specific (‘fixing’) times.
Trade Loans and Deposits and conduct management analysis and reporting activities via multiple pricing mechanisms such as Multi-bank Price Requests, Exclusive Price Request and Orders. Buy-side and sell-side clients achieve operational efficiencies through effecting a greater percentage of their financial transactions through a single, secure electronic service.
Security is afforded the highest priority; Currenex has implemented comprehensive security measures at every step of the trading process to ensure the complete protection of user data and full member confidentiality. Currenex uses strong encryption protocols – including digital certificates used by most major financial institutions for electronic funds transfer – to protect client trade data and bring real-time visibility to the entire trading process.
All activity on Currenex’s services is controlled through strict authentication and authorization procedures. To meet stringent compliance requirements, front and back office duties are completely segregated.
Currenex provides several levels of permissioning to achieve separation and ensure strong, auditable procedures. Clients can choose to restrict individual User IDs to specific system functions, including the limiting of trading activity by type or dollar amount. Similarly, clients can restrict back office staff from performing front office functions without proper authorization. Once user accounts are established, ongoing maintenance is controlled by your own system administrator.
Currenex works tirelessly to ensure that members enjoy secure electronic communications. In order to achieve this, Currenex is focused on three key factors:
- Authentication – confirming and identifying users
- Message integrity – ensuring communications are not altered in any way
- Message privacy – encrypting each message to maintain confidentiality
Currenex employs a two-factor authentication model that requires clients to present a valid digital certificate, unique User ID and password to log on to Currenex’s services. In order to maintain the integrity and confidentiality of communication to our clients, all connections to Currenex’s services are conducted across mutually authenticated 128-bit RC4 encrypted SSL sockets.
Currenex maintains a primary and secondary data center, each in geographically independent environments, managed by different service providers. Both centers employ strict on-site security controls, including 24/7 staffing, sensors, intrusion alarms, biometric scanning of technicians, and video surveillance systems. Furthermore, to ensure high availability and scalability of our services, Currenex has built the trading infrastructure with multiple redundancy to ensure no single point of failure. These provisions include:
- Multi-homed ISPs for redundant network connections
- Redundant routers and load balancers
- Multiple application servers for web access and business logic
- An enterprise-class database, with redundant subsystems
- UPS protection and onsite power generation capability through diesel generator backups
- Rapid failover capability between primary and secondary data centers
In addition to physical network security, Currenex employs extensive network security defenses including:
- Redundant firewall systems
- Multiple intrusion detection facilities
- Host integrity monitors
- Real-time third party security monitoring
At the click of the mouse, Currenex reporting services provide users with comprehensive records of trades completed, pre-trade processing, port-trade processing, analysis of trading patterns and the ability to demonstrate to management and auditors that trades executed conform to management, regulatory and fiduciary guidelines.
- Access important transaction information readily, including trade activity reports, counterparty activity reports and settlement details.
- Add user-definable fields to each trade record in order to document information for supporting FAS 133 or other reporting purposes.
- Achieve more effective, internal tracking and intelligence and facilitates integration with Treasury Management System vendors.
- Counterparty activity reports offer a number of key metrics to assist sell-side and buy-side users assess and analyze trading patterns and volume with their counterparts.
- Price takers can access an audit report showing the quotes received for each completed trade, along with estimated savings per trade and per period of time.
Currenex API

Currenex API
We believe Currenex is a driving force behind integration standards such as FIX and FpML, and is committed to ensuring an efficient and open marketplace for all participants. Foreign exchange traders using custom-designed automated pricing engines, order-routing and management systems, program trading systems and off-the-shelf modeling software can work with Currenex’s dedicated implementation teams to integrate these proprietary systems directly with the Currenex service. A rigorous test environment and extensive API integration expertise ensure that integration time-frames are minimized and trading efficiency is enhanced.
FIX Messaging Protocol
Currenex provides a high-speed multi-bank FIX gateway (using the FIX 4.2 protocol). This gateway allows FX traders to access market data (with full depth of book) and to manage orders. The Currenex FIX protocol specification is available to traders upon request. Currenex provides FIX traders with a full integration environment which includes live market data. Additionally, Currenex assists FX traders with throughput and protocol conformance testing.
Currenex remains active and committed to the FIX standard and is represented as the Co-Chair of the FIX Global Foreign Exchange Committee (GFXC). For more information on the generic FIX protocol go to http://www.fixprotocol.org.
FXintegrate Java API
The FXintegrate Java API enables FX traders to access market data (including full depth) and to manage the full spectrum of orders. Currenex provides Java API traders with a full integration environment which includes live market data. Additionally, Currenex assists traders with throughput and conformance testing.
Bank Integration
Currenex works in partnership with auto-pricing technology suppliers to provide APIs to connect to vendor-supplied, off-the-shelf auto-quote systems. In most cases, foreign exchange banks using vendor-supplied systems can very speedily integrate with the Currenex service. FXintegrate Autoquote API enables banks to connect to auto-pricing engines including Cognotec, to deliver auto and manual prices to their own customers for execution.
FX Prime Broker and STP Integration
Currenex provides prime brokers and STP partners with automated notification of fully matched give-up trades at no charge. Currenex also provides a fully documented XML schema that describes customer trade flows for all supported transaction types. Clients have the option of several connection protocols including XML/HTTP (Push), XML/HTTP (Pull), XML/MQSeries, and XML/SMTP(email). Various authentication and encryption options are also available. Additionally, Currenex provides its partners a fully functional test environment for STP simulation.