The Foreign Exchange Professionals Association (FXPA) is finishing 2016 with a lot of work in progress and, as evidenced by recent requests for its insights, has further established its reputation as a trusted resource for policymakers.
Launched in September 2014, FXPA welcomed six new members to the FX trade association during 2016, bringing the diverse organization’s membership up to 25 banks, buy side firms, trading platforms, clearinghouses, exchanges and technology companies. FXPA’s mission is to represent the collective interests of professional foreign exchange industry participants to advance a sound, liquid, transparent and competitive global currency market to policymakers and the marketplace through education, research and advocacy.
During the year, FXPA undertook a Brexit Liquidity Analysis using anonymized trade data from FXPA member trading platforms for the period surrounding the June 23 Brexit vote for six currency pairs. FXPA’s counsel, Steptoe & Johnson, consolidated (and anonymized) the information and quantified (by percentage) the amount of bank and nonbank liquidity during the period. This data will be presented shortly with member-driven analysis about the liquidity characteristics of that time period.
Since that study was undertaken, a US independent agency has approached the FXPA to collect anonymous trade data from members’ trading platforms for spot GBP/USD trading covering a period during the October 7 flash crash to assist in their analysis of what happened that day. We expect this project will lead the Policy Committee’s agenda for 2017.
Further, recent discussions within FXPA’s Policy Committee have focused on steps market participants take to protect the stability and resiliency of the FX marketplace. FXPA is looking at the benefits of various volatility measures employed to gather market participants’ thoughts on the need for such measures in the FX market in the future in order to analyze ways that market risks have been mitigated or prevented. This workstream may dovetail with the CFTC’s recently published supplemental proposal to its “Regulation AT” (automated trading) and how these rules may be used to improve the FX marketplace.
On February 16, 2017, the FXPA will hold Officers and the Board of Directors elections. The FXPA’s organizational construct ensures wide representation of the professional FX market. Founding members epitomize this diversity – including the buy side, exchanges, clearing houses, trading platforms, technology companies, banks and non-bank market participants. Members who join prior to February elections are able to seek leadership positions.
If you are interested in having your firm become a member of FXPA, please contact jros@fxpa.org for further information.
The FXPA is a Washington, DC-based organization that represents the collective interests of the full array of professional foreign exchange industry participants. The group was developed to engage key regulators, policymakers, the news media and general public through education, research and advocacy, with the goal of advancing a sound, liquid, transparent, and competitive global currency market.