Goldman signs up to Cognotec's Liquidity Linq

US investment bank Goldman Sachs will use foreign exchange e-commerce services provider Cognotec's Liquidity Linq Connect to offer foreign exchange pricing and execution services to firms currently signed up to Cognotec's foreign exchange dealing platforms, AutoDeal Lite and AutoDeal Direct

Liquidity Linq is a Web-based system allowing foreign exchange counterparties on different trading platforms to deal with each other. Goldman Sachs will be using the Liquidity Linq Connect application to extend the distribution of its forex pricing services to both new and existing customers.

Brian Maccaba, chairman of Cognotec, said that by using Liquidity Linq, Goldman Sachs had gained access to a significant market through the Web. Currently around one-third of the top 100 banks in the world are using Liquidity Linq, Maccaba claimed.

"The Cognotec technology allows us to offer our pricing capabilities to a wider group of clients," said Don Lee, managing director at Goldman Sachs. "This service complements our own strategic focus on growing our foreign exchange trading business through automated links to existing and new clients.

" Goldman Sachs will particularly focus on marketing its foreign exchange services to banks that intend extending the number of currencies and the range of the trading hours they offer to their clients.