Foreign Exchange

Being a large part of their business, the EVIA member firms have a significant and long standing interest in being involved in policy making around the FX markets, especially as regulation and compliance become ever more stringent. This page aims to collate FX specific resources and information that the EVIA members are involved in and may be of interest to the wider public.

Foreign Exchange Global Code of Conduct

The EVIA Public Register of Market Participants, as listed in the table below, primarily contains, but is not limited to, members of the European Venues and Intermediaries Association(EVIA) and the London Energy Brokers' Association(LEBA). This register aims to provide a clear view of the market participants commitment to the Foreign Exchange Global Code of Conduct by allowing free public access to their respective Statements of Commitment.

Participant name	Participant type	Date admission	Date signing	Statement url	Disclosure sheet url
360T	E-trading platform	2018-01	2017-12-05		N/A
LSEG	E-trading platform	2018-01	2022-10-05		N/A
EBS	E-trading platform	2018-01	2019-02-08		N/A
BGC Brokers LP	Broker or investment adviser	2018-01	2017-12-21		N/A
GFI Brokers Limited & GFI Securities Limited	Broker or investment adviser	2018-01	2017-12-21		N/A
Sunrise Brokers LLP	Broker or investment adviser	2018-01	2017-12-21		N/A
TP ICAP Group	Broker or investment adviser	2018-03	2018-07-10		N/A
Tradition (UK) Limited	Broker or investment adviser	2018-04	2018-02-26		N/A
ParFX (UK) Ltd	E-trading platform	2018-04	2018-04-18		N/A
Marex Financial Limited	Broker or investment adviser	2018-05	2018-05-25		N/A
Copa Fin Ltd (Cobalt)	Infrastructure or technology provider	2019-06	2019-05-14		N/A
PrimeXM	Infrastructure or technology provider	2019-12	2019-12-10		N/A
PrimeXM	E-trading platform	2019-12	2019-12-10		N/A
Baton Systems Inc	Infrastructure or technology provider	2021-07	2021-07-22		N/A
Xazur Technologies Ltd	E-trading platform	2022-01	2022-01-09		N/A
Xazur Technologies India Pvt Ltd	E-trading platform	2022-01	2022-01-09		N/A

= links to external web site.

EVIA does not assume responsibility for verifying the accuracy or validity of a market participant’s Statement of Commitment. EVIA does not monitor a participants adherence to the Foreign Exchange Global Code of Conduct, or verify whether market participants are within the defined scope of market participants covered by the public register. The Foreign Exchange Global Code of Conduct is anticipated to be updated from time to time to reflect emerging issues, changes in the FX Market, and feedback from interested parties. Institutions that have committed to the Foreign Exchange Global Code of Conduct should consider renewing their Statements on a regular basis and also when such updates to the Foreign Exchange Global Code of Conduct are published.

Market Participants who wish to apply for inclusion, or to amend or delete their entry should e-mail evia@evia.org.uk with their requirements.

The EVIA Public Register is shared with the Global Index of Registers (the “Global Index”) which can be found HERE

A copy of the Foreign Exchange Global Code of Conduct can be found HERE

WMBA Statement on the Foreign Exchange Global Code of Conduct - 25 May 2017

Please CLICK HERE to view the Full Statement.

 

FXJSC Global Code Review

A survey was carried out at the end of 2023 on the FX Global Code (the Code), including among other local foreign exchange (FX) committees, which confirmed that the Code was fit for purpose. However, there will be a targeted review of the Code with two areas of particular focus: i) FX settlement risk; and ii) enhancing data transparency.

• The FXJSC members were invited to join the two working groups which were currently being formed to address these two areas. It was noted that the Global Foreign Exchange Committee (GFXC) would be discussing the working groups at the meeting in July which was due to be held in Frankfurt.
• The GFXC also agreed that the pre-hedging guidance sat outside the Code and therefore that there was no appetite to either review or transpose the pre-hedging guidance into the Code, but instead to include hyperlinks whilst legal considerations were being explored by the GFXC.
• Natalie also noted that in the FX space, pre-hedging had made good progress as a product and there was some consideration around the appropriateness of having guidance run alongside the Code for participants.

FXJSC Global Code Review

FX Swaps

FX Swaps Definitions of Services; EVIA Trading Venues; December 2018

FX Forward Tenor Band

EVIA Standardised FX Forward Tenor Band.pdf

 

Money Markets Committee endorse changes to Money Markets Code

On 18 July, the BoE published the minutes of the Money Markets Committee (MMC) June 2024 meeting. The MMC is a forum for market participants and authorities to discuss the UK unsecured deposits and funding market and securities lending and repo markets. The MMC Sub-committee informed the MMC that the Money Markets Code review was now complete. They outlined the key changes that would be implemented to the Code, which included the process for UK Market Participants in the event of unplanned bank holidays and unexpected market closures and that UK Market Participants are reminded about the importance of settlement discipline. The MMC endorsed the changes to the Money Markets Code and agreed for the updated Code to be published on the BoE’s website.

• Minutes →
• Money Markets Code →
• Money Markets Code; One of the Chairs of the UK Money Markets Code Sub-committee informed the MMC that the Code Review (which had been conducted over the last nine months by members of the Sub-Committee and industry experts to ensure the Code remains fit for purpose and evolved in line with market practices and structures) was now complete. They outlined the key changes that would be implemented to the Code, which included the process for UK Market Participants in the event of unplanned bank holidays and unexpected market closures and that UK Market Participants are reminded about the importance of settlement discipline.
• The MMC endorsed the changes to the Money Markets Code and agreed for the updated Code to be published on the Bank’s website.
• The Code was first updated in April 2021 to reflect new remote working practices, the benefits of diverse and inclusive money markets teams, the ongoing development of environmental, social and governance criteria, and the increasing electronification and use of platforms in money markets. This updated Code further underscores the importance of each of these areas in shaping financial market activity in the future.
• Recent developments in UK Money Markets have also been addressed in the Code. For example, the process for UK Market Participants in the event of unplanned bank holidays are introduced via a new section in the ‘Background’ chapter on unexpected market closures.
• The Code also reminds UK Market Participants of the importance of making every reasonable effort to settle transactions conducted in UK Money Markets. The language in the Code has been strengthened to reflect this and a new section on settlement discipline has been added to the ‘Securities lending’ chapter.
• Lastly, the Code highlights the emergence of digital assets in the securities lending market

• Fails Working Group

• A representative from the Securities Lending Committee provided an update on the work being done by its Working Group on Settlement Efficiency. They informed the MMC that a report on the Working Group’s investigation on drivers and impacts of fails as well as potential solutions relating to settlement failure in the UK securities market, was in its final drafting stages and would be published in the following weeks. Further updates will be provided by the Working Group in Q1 2025 as they track progress of the migration to T+1 settlement in North America.

• Item 5 – Migration to T+1 settlement

• The MMC discussed T+1 settlement migration in the UK which is currently being explored by the Accelerated Settlement Taskforce at HM Treasury in which the FCA and Bank of England participate as observers. Members discussed how the migration in the US has gone so far which was generally considered to be smooth, albeit noting some frictions in credit markets and relating to cash flow management.