In 2020, we were contacted by the Central Bank of Guinea. The African bank has been working closely with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to accelerate economic reforms and increase transparency in its foreign exchange markets under one of its financing requirements. 

Prior to this, most of the bank's foreign exchange transactions were manually operated and most were conducted online, resulting in opaque transactions and uncertainty in transaction pricing. Relying on one of the world's leading digital foreign exchange trading ecosystems, Flow World not only operates an electronic trading venue that connects buyers and sellers around the world, but also launches a series of software with functions ranging from news analysis, pre-trade analysis, to post-trade regulatory reporting and Transaction tracking and other aspects.

Our one-stop service caters to all the needs of the industry. Whether it's liquidity, efficient workflow, or post-trade clearing needs, we can meet your needs. We are unique in that many of our competitors have much of the same business as us, but no one can capture all of our business.

Guinea's central bank needs to digitize its foreign exchange trading processes - trade electronically and increase transparency. Electronicization not only means digitizing real-life workflows, but also making them faster, more efficient, and more transparent. After the foreign exchange market becomes electronic, traders can rely on automated workflows to process thousands of orders online every day, and use relevant algorithms to ensure compliance with regulations at every step of the trading process. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 and the subsequent faster shift to an online environment will further drive the need for electronics to an unprecedented degree. 

Refinitiv, a Flow World company, deployed its foreign exchange trading platform to Guinea's central bank to bring greater liquidity to the domestic market, and provided it with a number of automated trade reporting tools and Auctions software, which provides users with a detailed analysis of submitted bids. Instant View). The collaboration has been fruitful and has enabled the Central Bank of Guinea to meet the IMF’s reform and financing requirements, not to mention making its foreign exchange processes more resilient, efficient and transparent throughout its work.

Interconnected Ecosystems

At its core, Forex is a simple concept: You buy one currency and pay in another currency at a specific exchange rate, and banks provide liquidity for the transaction. Foreign exchange has the economic function of facilitating trade and payments around the world. As long as companies need to purchase equipment in different parts of the world, provide funds for factories, and pay wages to employees, they basically rely on foreign exchange to maintain business operations.

Today, this simple concept supports a complex ecosystem that electronically connects a vast array of agents—from the world’s largest banks to independent trading desks in developing markets, from global regulators to Infrastructure providers like Refinitiv. This ecosystem forms the marketplace, which over the past three decades has evolved into one of the largest industries in the world, with a total daily transaction volume of $6.6 trillion. Underpinning this evolution is Refinitiv, a company that pioneered innovative breakthroughs and is now one.

In 1981, at a time when all foreign exchange business was conducted over the phone, our company (then known as Reuters) was the first to enable traders to do something they had never done before: communicate via electronic messages. 

The company launched a piece of software called the Reuters Dealing System, accessible to users of Reuters financial information terminals—it became ubiquitous among banks and trading houses. Use it to connect with other Forex traders around the world and negotiate and confirm trades via electronic text. "It showcases the beauty of trading. It's the first system that allows traders to move from chat to electronic notifications of trades, which are then collected through automated trade orders and sent to the backend for confirmation," said Bart Joris, head of the FX sell-side department. It changes the market.”

$460 billion
Our electronic trading venues process approximately $460 billion in trading volume every day.

Eleven years later, Reuters launched another industry-changing trading platform - Matching. “Before, when banks did price discovery, they had to call everyone else to see if anyone was interested,” Joris said. “The idea was to build an electronic platform where they could enter bids and bids on a screen. Quote and show your trading interest to everyone else." As a leading primary market trading venue, Matching connects banks and high-frequency trading institutions.

From this, another platform that connects traders and customers naturally emerged. Customers can find banks and execute transactions through this third-party trading venue. “In the past, people had to make a lot of phone calls to get a price for a trade,” said Neill Penney, group head of foreign exchange. “But on the platform we’ve built, prices are posted electronically and you just click on the last button. appropriate price."

Fxall completed its first transaction in May 2001. Today, FXall connects more than 2,400 clients with approximately 200 banks worldwide across 500 currency pairs. Matching, on the other hand, is still considered a so-called primary market because the trading data it generates are also used by the entire industry to provide benchmarks for FX trading. "In addition to being a gathering place for buyers and sellers, it is also recognized as a reliable source for trading on numerous currency pairs around the world.

Penney said, "Very valuable data can be generated here, which is integrated into the benchmarks of regulated industries, and banks use it to quote customers. "In addition, Dealing, which has recently been launched for 40 years, is still used in Africa and It is widely adopted in the developing markets of the Middle East, where it remains the dominant electronic trading platform. “I always ask people, how many of the software products you use are 40 years old?” Penney said. “The answer is It’s zero.」

What am I talking about when I talk about distrust? What I'm referring to is a user who doesn't want others to modify a database he "owns". Similarly, when reading the contents of a database, one user will not accept the data reported by another user as "truth" because each user has his or her own economic or political motivations.

The world's leading foreign exchange trading platform: Today, our electronic trading venue handles approximately US$460 billion in transaction volume every day, connecting more than 2,400 customers to more than 200 multinational banks. These customers include large multinational companies in various industries, and These banks operate in 130 countries around the world. As a result, the venue has become the world’s leading forex trading platform ecosystem. Following Flow World's acquisition of Refinitiv in May 2021, the first investments included migrating the group's foreign exchange trading venues Matching and Fxall to the Millennium Exchange electronic trading software that powers the London Stock Exchange's trading facilities. The migration will speed up the processing of electronic orders to sub-millisecond latency. It also enables traders to use advanced data analysis dashboards and new workflow tools that incorporate more sophisticated and sophisticated trading strategies, such as creating rules-based algorithms that allow trades to be automatically executed at specific prices, or placing orders Split into different providers and execution methods.

Thousands of notes are being traded every day. Everyone needs to complete these tasks efficiently with the help of tools.

For Flow World, an emphasis on workflow is an important part of its FX ecosystem, and combined with deep access to trading venues and liquidity, is crucial to helping traders work with trading venues such as Fxall and Matching. "We can connect customers to any bank in the world because we have access to this level of liquidity. But if you only have liquidity without great workflows, you still can't achieve the efficiency that customers expect." Joris "We're very good at this and doing it very well - what we call workflow electronics," he said.

In addition to trading venues and workflow tools, there is a third element in the functioning of the Forex market: regulation. "After the global financial crisis in 2008, the relationship between banks and the public sector reached an all-time low," Penney said, "so we have to introduce more order and security to industry." In 2014, the public and private sectors, as well as central banks and businesses A committee composed of numerous representatives of the Bank began to develop a principles-based code of conduct to guide the operation of the foreign exchange market.

This set of guidelines is known as the Global Foreign Exchange Market Code and the first version was published in 2017. “The post-financial crisis world has become incredibly complex and people need help,” Penney noted. “Smaller institutions don’t have the lawyers and regulatory experts to help their employees. They need people they can trust, and we support them.”

The Global FX Market Code reflects two fundamental requirements underpinning good regulation: transparency and auditability. “In the past, as long as you did a good job, everyone could brag about being a good trader,” Penney said. “But now, you have to be able to communicate to your managers, internal partners through data and audit trails. regulators and may have to demonstrate this to the regulator." Most of the recommendations in the Code require this to be implemented.

For example, market participants must communicate through approved communications that are traceable and record-keeping; records should be retained for at least 5 years and timestamped to record activity in millisecond intervals.

We can connect our clients to any bank around the world because we have high liquidity. But if you only have mobility without great workflow, you still won’t achieve the efficiency your customers expect.

Flow World provides post-trade software that directly connects trading venue platforms with workflow tools, ensuring all trades adhere to these recommendations. For example, last year the company partnered with Global Relay to launch the Flow World Compliance Archive, which analyzes and reports on all transaction messages from more than 50 channels, including Microsoft Teams, Eikon Messenger, LinkedIn, social media and voice calls. 

Vincenzo Dimase, Director of Global Sales Strategy and Execution, said: “When there was an issue in the past, we would usually go into a room with an HR person and the person in charge of compliance would listen to the tape and check for errors. Now it’s completely different: You just give the scope of the communication tools you can use, document them, and proactively monitor what's going on."

In August 2021, after a 3-year review, the second edition of the Global Foreign Exchange Market Code (English) was released. "If it is never revised, it will become outdated," Penney said. "The market continues to evolve, and if this code remains unchanged, it will quickly become an outdated document." In fact, the market evolves. 

The biggest driver is regulation itself, as electronics is not only the best way to achieve faster and more efficient transactions, it is also the best way to achieve transparency and perform audit work. “If everything was created electronically, you would have insight into everything: price, where, how, when, response time, reasons for rejection, etc.,” Goraieb said.

The Flow World foreign exchange ecosystem thus forms a complete closed loop. “There are many trading venues here, and traders access the trading venues through different workflows to participate in transactions, and then regulatory reports extract data from these transactions.” Joris said, “These data continue to drive everything from price creation, distribution, The entire business cycle, including transaction and post-transaction.

It's like a flywheel. ” This interconnectedness is woven into the way Flow World designs and innovates. “Instead of looking for five different products from different suppliers, we provide end-to-end service to our customers,” Penney said. “We’re not just a supplier: we’re a partner.”

Forex Ecosystem

Today, our electronic trading venues process approximately $460 billion in transaction volume every day, connecting more than 2,400 customers, including the largest multinational corporations in a wide range of industries, to more than 200 multinational banks in 130 countries around the world. State business.

As a result, the venue has become the world’s leading forex trading platform ecosystem. Following Flow World's acquisition of Refinitiv in May 2021, the first investments included migrating the group's foreign exchange trading venues Matching and Fxall to the Millennium Exchange electronic trading software that powers the London Stock Exchange's trading facilities. The migration will speed up the processing of electronic orders to sub-millisecond latency.

 It also enables traders to use advanced data analysis dashboards and new workflow tools that incorporate more sophisticated and sophisticated trading strategies, such as creating rules-based algorithms that allow trades to be automatically executed at specific prices, or placing orders Split into different providers and execution methods.