Sell-Side Technology Awards 2024: Best sell-side OTC trading initiative—DIGITEC

Overview

In September 2023, DIGITEC launched D3 OMS, which connects to institutional trading venues and automates FX swaps workflows. FX swaps trading by clients is already highly electronic, but the inter-dealer market has been slow to migrate to these channels due to the complexity of trading workflows and price formation. Despite electronic FX swaps venues being available, the majority of inter-dealer trades still use voice brokers, which is inefficient, subject to error, and limits market growth.

The solution  

D3 OMS combines position management, risk management, and OMS and EMS functionality to increase workflow automation and enable traders to connect and place orders in the inter-dealer FX swaps market. It is connected to the 360T Swaps User Network (SUN) and LSEG FX Forwards Matching, with more venues still to be added. D3 OMS enables traders to automate and enhance their current workflows, managing inter-dealer FX swaps orders from a single screen. The service increases efficiency and improves risk management.

Secret sauce  

For over 40 years, DIGITEC has developed pricing tools for the FX swaps market. The Hamburg-based tech firm used this experience and expertise to build D3 OMS, designed to manage orders across the FX inter-dealer market from a single screen.

Recent milestones

• D3 OMS was launched in September 2023. It was developed with the market, clients, and partners to exactly match what was required of/from an OMS.
• The service is connected to the 360T SUN and LSEG FX Forwards Matching venues.

We launched D3 OMS in September last year and are seeing a great deal of interest from the market, some from our existing bank clients and some completely new relationships, which plan to use D3 OMS as a standalone product. D3 OMS was developed in collaboration with the sell side and this award validates our decision to develop and launch this new service

Peer Joost, CEO, DIGITEC

Why they won

As explained in other category write-ups, these and other WatersTechnology awards seek to reward one quality more so than any other: innovation. Through the launch of its outstanding D3 OMS, DIGITEC how shown that it possesses innovation in bucketloads, effectively creating a catalyst by which the inter-dealer FX swaps market can be dragged into the 21st century to the benefit of market participants and investors alike. But that is only half the challenge for DIGITEC―the other (arguably more difficult) half is whether D3 will be able to bring about wholesale buy-in from the market and reach a tipping point where it becomes the de facto OMS of choice for the inter-dealer FX swaps market. What is clear, however, is that the technology is fit-for-purpose and the market is long overdue for change. Chapeau, DIGITEC!