Institutional
Institutional
Institutional covers the market that every retail forex signal ultimately trades against: how the dealer-centred FX market is structured, what last look is and why the FX Global Code regulates it, how banks were fined billions over the benchmark fix, how retail brokers decide which client trades to hedge, what happened when the Swiss National Bank removed its floor in 2015, how bank research differs from a signal service, and how professionals execute large orders. None of it is secret. It is spread across BIS surveys, regulator orders and central-bank papers. These pieces pull it together at professional depth, with the sources named.
Start here
How the FX Market Is Structured: Dealers, Interdealer Venues, ECNs and the BIS Triennial Survey
How the $9.5 trillion-a-day FX market is organised: dealer banks, EBS and LSEG Matching, multi-dealer platforms, internalisation, prime brokerage, and where retail flow sits, from BIS data.
Read this first →More in Institutional
Last Look Explained: FX Global Code Principle 17, Hold Times, and the Barclays Case
What last look is, why FX liquidity providers use it, what Principle 17 of the FX Global Code requires, how the NYDFS Barclays case defined abuse, and what a hold time costs.
Read the explainer →The FX Fixing Scandal: How the WM/Reuters 4pm Fix Was Manipulated, and What Changed
How bank traders used chat rooms to move the WM/Reuters 4pm fix, what the FCA, CFTC, DOJ and Fed found in 2014 and 2015, the fines, the trials, and the benchmark reforms that followed.
Read the explainer →How Retail Forex Brokers Hedge: A-Book, B-Book, Internalisation and What Listed Brokers Disclose
How retail FX and CFD brokers manage client risk: natural offsetting, external hedging and net exposure, what IG, CMC, Plus500 and GAIN disclose, regulators' findings, and a worked P&L model.
Read the explainer →The Swiss Franc Shock of 2015: How the SNB Floor Removal Created Negative Balances and Broke Brokers
How the SNB's removal of the EUR/CHF 1.20 floor on January 15, 2015 gapped through stop losses, left FXCM clients owing $275 million, sank Alpari UK, and changed margin rules.
Read the explainer →How Bank FX Research Works: Sell-Side Strategists, Trade Ideas, and Why They Are Not Signals
Who writes bank FX research, how it is paid for after MiFID II unbundling, which US conflict rules apply, how forecasts compare with forwards, and why a bank trade idea is not a signal.
Read the explainer →FX Prime Brokerage Explained: Give-Ups, Credit Limits, and What Changed After 2015
How FX prime brokers lend their name and credit so clients can trade with many dealers, how give-ups and designation limits work, the credit arithmetic, and the 2015 retreat to prime-of-prime.
Read the explainer →FX Execution Algorithms: TWAP, VWAP, the Fix, Risk Transfer and Transaction Cost Analysis
How institutions execute large currency orders: risk transfer vs algorithms vs fixing orders, the execution trilemma, TCA benchmarks, the 4pm fix window, and FX Global Code disclosure rules.
Read the explainer →