I have read all of the reviews here on Currenex and there are some absolutely correct understandings of the system and brokers etc but also some absolute rubbish and misinformed nonsense so I thought I would try and set the record straight....
Currenex is a software vendor. In order to gain access to Currenex you need a broker to hold your account. Currenex does not have any direct relationships with the liquidity providers or brokers except as a vendor of software, therefor the broker you choose will dictate what terms of business you are on and what pricing you see.
Not all brokers have the same pricing on their versions of currenex as each other, why? Firstly the broker might only have relationships with a few banks, obviously the more banks the better the spread and the deeper the liquidity (theoretically).
Secondly, the broker might not be well capitalised and therefore in order to gain access to all the liquidity providers they inturn will use a prime broker. Some of the companies mentioned here do that. Obviously this puts up the fees. Finally, the broker might have many liquidity providers and his credit is fine but the liquidity providers dont like the flow from that brokers clients and therfore the stream a wider price.
So as you can see there are three main reasons as to why the pricing on currenex can be different from broker to broker. In my opinion when choosing a broker you have to consider the following how big is the broker what balance sheet, the smaller they are the more costs there will be and they will have to pass those costs on.
So as you can see above we have looked at the relationship between the Vendor Currenex The brokers and the liquidity providers. Lets now look at the brokers themselves.....So as you can see can the brokers be subjected to different pricing for all the above reasons you then have to factor in what the brokers offer publically in terms of their margin reates and $/per million fees and what they choose what not to tell you.
What they all tell you is their margin rate is 1%,2%, 3% or more and that is dependent on their own credit and risk policies. As you will see if you just make a few phone calls yourselves the larger institutions are more conservative with their margin rates and the smaller capitalised companies offer more aggressive margin rates. If you are highly leveraged then the decision is simple you can only go to a smaller company to get the bang for your buck. If you don't leverage and you are more conservative in your own risk management then the level of margin you pay is a mute point.
In addition the $/per million fee. As above if you are trading with a smaller company that has a prime broker and other people to pay then the fee will be higher. One of the people below mentioned $50 per million.This is criminal. Anyhing above $15 per million is the wrong number and for volume single figures is achievable.
What they don't tell you.....spreading the prices....Did you know that if the price the broker gets from the liquidity providers is less than 1 pip (which it often is, at the time of writing the price I see from my provider is 1.41764/770) They can widen the price a keep the difference. Did you also know that they can also choose for the trade to hit their book rather than allowing it to offset direct with the liquidity provider. And as some one else in this forum suggested they can choose weather they allow the clients prices to match off against each other or not.
So all is not what it seems eh! The brokers have different prices from each other different terms of business and are able to manipulate almost every part of the process. No change there then and those that have suggested its a level playing field need to get their heads out of the sand. I saw someone moaning about the slippage on the platform over numbers and with stop loss order, geez fella get a life!!! what you forget that these positions end up on real peoples desks at the liquidity providers and they have to manage them, so over numbers and in times of volatility the machines don't work.
Currenex is not a matching engine it is not EBS.
That said if you choose the right broker i.e. a larger one tyha doesnt need an prime broker and doesn't widen the prices and offers low $/per million then your off to the races the technology is fantastic and I use it everyday.