Changing times for managing liquidity

NEW YORK – Managing and accessing liquidity in electronic foreign exchange means something entirely different now to what it did five years ago, according to Bill Hartnett, global head of forex e-commerce at Citigroup.

Speaking at a packed session entitled 'Making Money in e-FX', Hartnett said banks need to know who they are pricing to, and down which channels. "You have to know the characteristics of those channels because they are all different."

"Much of what we have come to understand is the difference between providing clients with a liquidity service and providing a market-making price. Those are two very different propositions," said Hartnett.

Hartnett said that to be successful in e-trading, banks have