Press Release
BARCLAYS STOCKBROKERS PARTNERS WITH BARCLAYS CAPITAL TO BRING A MARKET LEADING SPOT FX TRADING SERVICE TO SELF DIRECTED INVESTORS
LONDON, 25th April 2008 — Barclays Stockbrokers today announces the launch of spot FX on BARX from Barclays Stockbrokers, the firm's multi product trading platform for active private investors. The new service offers leveraged spot trading for the world's most liquid currency pairs and is designed to empower private investors with pricing, tools and service capability to enable them to participate effectively in the FX markets. Leverage for the product is 100:1 and enables investors to magnify their potential gains, but the leverage may also magnify their losses. The FX offering aims to protect 10% of the investor's initial margin deposit.
Barclays Stockbrokers has launched the service in response to a growing demand from investors. Research conducted by Barclays Stockbrokers shows that more than a quarter of investors (26%) surveyed are looking to trade FX in the future with 16% already trading this asset class. In the past three years the retail FX market has seen unprecedented growth with a 70% increase in monthly trading volumes*, with the UK now representing a third of the world's total retail FX flow.
FX on BARX from Barclays Stockbrokers gives access to some of the tightest spreads in the market, with liquidity derived from Barclays Capital, the award winning institutional liquidity provider and leading global FX solutions provider. This partnership between Barclays Stockbrokers and Barclays Capital follows the success of other joint initiatives such as Investment Notes™, LSE listed structured products designed by Barclays Capital and made available through Barclays Stockbrokers.
Designed in conjunction with industry experts and FX traders, this new leveraged FX service provides a unique offering to the retail FX market. The trading platform will offer private investors access to some of the leading features available from Barclays Capital's BARX trading platform, such as BARX Precision Pricing, where pricing sourced from some of the deepest liquidity pools in the market will translate into tighter spreads, faster execution and greater market transparency for investors. Using some of the most advanced technology available, clients will benefit from a fully customisable trading platform which allows them access to a wide range of trading features such as advanced order types, highly sophisticated charting, technical analysis tools, a fully integrated and automatic risk management and system alerting capability. The trading platform also enables clients to access their trading account through both desktop and browser based software, making it unique in the market.
FX on BARX from Barclays Stockbrokers also offers attractive interest rates on cash held within the FX account and where positions are held overnight investors with £50,000 or more in their accounts will be offered interest rates on cash up to the Base Rate minus 1%. Investors will also benefit from professional quality streaming news provided by Reuters and access to Barclays Wealth FX research and trade strategies. The platform has been created and will be facilitated by Integral Development Corp. a foreign exchange technology and application provider of FX trading solutions. Integral has provided the platform with cutting edge features, which combined with the pricing and liquidity of Barclays Capital and the distribution of Barclays Stockbrokers results in a state of the art FX proposition.
Tom Ryan, Head of Proposition of Barclays Stockbrokers says, "FX spot trading has moved from the exclusive domain of the institutional trading desk to the active trader's laptop in line with the increased sophistication of the private client community. Current market conditions have led to many of our clients seeking a diversified portfolio, and access to the FX markets provides them with a natural hedge away from equities. FX on BARX from Barclays Stockbrokers will empower self directed investors to trade seamlessly across all major FX liquidity markets worldwide, twenty four hours a day, six days a week. We are offering a market leading solution that combines the functionality and accessibility of BARX with the pricing and liquidity of Barclays Capital, we envisage this service will bring out the best in new and experienced investors."
Ivan Ritossa, Managing Director, Head of Foreign Exchange and Head of Global Markets, Asia Pacific commented, "We are delighted to be working with our partners at Barclays Wealth to bring a superior FX proposition to market for private investors. This is a growth sector for our business and Barclays is extremely well placed to service private investors given the leadership we have already shown in the institutional marketplace with BARX FX over the last 6 years."
Key features of FX on BARX for private investors:
- Investors' assets are held by one of the world's leading AA rated financial institutions
- Market leading spreads powered by BARX Precision Pricing from Barclays Capital
- Razor sharp trading platform, offering a fully customisable trading experience using the latest technology
- Interest paid on cash held and funding credits or debits on positions held overnight
- Professional quality research and trader support with live streaming Reuters news
Full features of BARX from Barclays Stockbrokers:
- Access to active trading products and tools across multiple asset classes including:
- Equities
- FX
- Covered warrants
- CFDs (including international equities, commodities and currencies)
- Financial spreads
- Capital protected structured products
- iShares
- Access to Level 1 and 2 pricing for real-time views of the Equity markets
- Leveraged FX trading with liquidity sourced from Barclays Capital
- Advanced, customisable charting, heat maps and analytical tools
- Automated order types, stops and losses
- In-depth, real time news from six news agencies including Reuters and Dow Jones Professional
About Barclays Wealth
Barclays Wealth, the UK's leading wealth manager by client assets, has £132.5bn client assets globally, at 31 December 2007. It serves affluent, high net worth and intermediary clients worldwide, providing international and private banking, fiduciary services, investment management and brokerage. Thomas L. Kalaris is the Chief Executive of Barclays Wealth and he joined the business at the start of 2006. It was voted Global Investor's Wealth Manager of the Year for 2007.
Barclays is a major global financial services provider engaged in retail and commercial banking, credit cards, investment banking, wealth management and investment management services with an extensive international presence in Europe, the USA, Africa and Asia.
With over 300 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays operates in over 50 countries and employs over 134,000 people. Barclays moves, lends, invests and protects money for over 27 million customers and clients worldwide.
For further information about Barclays Wealth, please visit our website www.barclayswealth.com.
About Barclays Capital
Barclays Capital is the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC which has an AA long-term credit rating and a balance sheet of over £1.2 trillion. With a distinctive business model, Barclays Capital provides large corporate, government and institutional clients with solutions to their financing and risk management needs. Barclays Capital has offices in 29 countries, employs over 16,200 people and has the global reach and distribution power to meet the needs of issuers and investors worldwide.
BARX is Barclays Capital's award winning ecommerce platform and leading global provider of electronic transaction solutions for institutional investors, financial institutions, and corporations worldwide. Through BARX, Barclays Capital offers electronic execution and a complete set of pre-trade and post-trade services across fixed income, foreign exchange, futures, commodities, equities, money markets and structured products. For more information about BARX, please visit www.barx.com.
For further information about Barclays Capital, please visit our website www.barclayscapital.com. Barclays Capital - the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC. Registered in England 1026167. Registered office 1 Churchill Place, London, E14 5HP. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority and a member of the London Stock Exchange.
About Integral
Integral is a leading, independent developer and managed service provider of online Foreign Exchange dealing systems. Founded in 1993, Integral's 200+ technical professionals across all major financial centers deliver 24 hour support for mission critical FX dealing systems. For more information please visit: www.integral.com.
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