In the past, European traders increased their allocation to algorithmic/direct market access (DMA) while reducing high-touch trading. This year, the biggest increase was seen in program trading by about 34%.
Dark pools catering to institutions have evolved with innovative methods of matching orders and faster matching engines to avoid moving the price after the trade. It’s also a sign of the intense competition brewing between off-exchange venues seeking to sign up brokers and institutions.
With liquidity fragmented across the foreign exchange landscape and regulations like MiFID II placing more responsibility on the buy side to obtain best execution, there has been an increased uptake in algorithmic trading. According to an October 2020 study on FX execution algorithms by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), FX execution algorithms today account for an …