Several banks have rapidly developed their commodities businesses, but few feel that their electronic platforms are good enough to enter these awards. Barclays Capital is a clear exception, and its commodities trading technology is excellent. It also benefits from its integration with foreign exchange trading.
The bank officially launched its executable streaming rates on eight base metals and four precious metals on September 15. In two clicks, the user can trade three-month forwards in base metals and spot in precious metals.
Users are able to customize their view to display a selection of the tradeable products they are interested in. They can also set preferred trade volumes and a default sub-account if necessary.
The platform caters for physical forwards, strip trades and carry trades. It also offers auto-fill functionality to speed up the creation of multi-legged trades. Real-time forex rates for 240 currency pairs can also be included on the display and traded.
The bank’s system also offers post-trade services. It ensures that London Metal Exchange client trades, LME exchange trades, LME give-up trades and over-the-counter trades are automatically routed to Barclays Capital’s internal systems. It also ensures that, where necessary, trades are automatically registered with the LME through the London Clearing House.