Summit Partners sees the peak of the financial market. Sold their stake in Flow Traders two weeks ago, now they are selling forex trading platform 360T in an auction to Deutsche Boerse.

3rd largest FX spot market

While 360T may not directly ring a bell to everyone, it’s one of the largest independent (=non bank) foreign exchange platforms. They are said to trade 100 billion in the forex spot market every day. Ranking third in the global market after Reuters owned FXAll and FX Connect – and just ahead of Bloomberg.

Familiar face from Summit Partners

360T was founded in 2000 in Frankfurt. Summit bought their majority stake just three years ago in 2012. From Summit we see Han Sikkens again. In volume 360T is big, but especially large block trades are matched. As a trading platform it isn’t the most interesting spot to be. 

Deutsche Boerse pays €725 million for the firm. A lot more than $365 million Bats paid for Hotspot FX from KCG. The scope of activities from 360T is a lot bigger than just the spot market in forex. Forwards, interest rate swaps etc.

Regulatory burden

The key thing here is the regulatory burden coming up. OTC trading will gradually be forced to move to a cleared platform. Trading will happen on 360T, and cleared with Eurex. I noticed I have a 360T chainsaw in my garden shed. But that’s probably unrelated business.

IMC dives in dark pool

Small but noteworthy news from IMC Financial Markets. IMC hires the head of sales from UBS’ dark pool in the USA. Sam Yudelovitch had been working for 10 years at UBS. Another new hire for IMC is Paul Jiganti. He’s an option guy and comes from retail brokerage TD Ameritrade. He as worked for 16  years for trading firm Susquehanna International Group (SIG).

Both hires suggests IMC apparently will try to get involved in the shady US dark pool business and the payment for order flow activity. Not too fond of this US market micro structure, but can’t blame IMC for it.

• Deutsche Boerse, Eurex, forex, IMC