Transforming the FX Trader’s Desktop

As the industry gathers for TradeTech FX in Barcelona, we sat down with Adam Toms, CEO of HERE Europe, to discuss the latest trends in FX trading and how HERE Enterprise Browser is helping global banks such as BNP Paribas modernize their FX workflows.

The FX market is clearly unique compared to other asset classes. What makes this space so attractive to HERE?

Adam Toms:
The fragmentation of the FX market is really what sets it apart—along with the fact that it’s the largest financial market in the world.

Unlike equities, which trade mainly on centralized exchanges, FX is decentralized and highly electronic, resulting in an extraordinary number of applications across analytics, pricing data feeds, risk tools, and more. This creates cluttered, disconnected trader desktops that slow decision-making and increase operational complexity.

A WBR survey found that 40% of FX professionals cited “increasing on-desk technology” as the top challenge facing FX desks. This is exactly where HERE makes a difference: by giving firms a unified, interoperable workspace that simplifies workflows and puts the right data in front of the trader at the right time.

What are you hearing from FX professionals today? How do they define success with new FX initiatives?

Adam Toms:
Many FX traders describe a paradox: they have access to more data than ever before, but suffer from information overload—making it harder to find the right insights fast.

On the desktop, they consistently ask for:

Today there are multiple FX platforms leveraging HERE’s technology to improve these exact areas—navigation, visualization, alerting, and interoperability—helping traders gain precision, efficiency, and control over their technology stack.

Can you share a recent success story where HERE transformed an FX platform?

Adam Toms:
A standout example is BNP Paribas’s Cortex, an advanced multi-product FX trading platform.

BNP Paribas used HERE’s technology to re-engineer Cortex with an HTML5-based interface and embed powerful interoperability. The result:

By leveraging HERE, BNP Paribas is also achieving deeper client integration and cross-application interoperability—critical for staying competitive in fast-moving FX markets.

FX has traditionally lagged behind equities in automation. Has the gap narrowed?

Adam Toms:
Absolutely—the gap is closing quickly.

We’ve seen a sharp rise in algorithmic trading in FX over the past few years, alongside growing high-frequency trading. While order-level transparency still has room to improve, it’s trending in the right direction—helping traders make more informed decisions and execute with confidence using advanced algos.

A recent WBR survey showed that 20% of FX traders list “reducing the human touch at the trading desk” as their top priority, which tells us automation is only going to accelerate.

What other macro-trends are shaping the FX space?

Adam Toms:
One of the most important is what we call the “equitization” of FX—the adoption of equity-style technologies such as TCA, advanced analytics, and execution-quality tools that help traders optimize performance.

On the desktop specifically, visualization and alerts continue to be game-changers, cutting through the noise of fragmented applications and giving traders actionable insights at speed.

With HERE, we’re seeing firms deliver more interoperable, data-driven, and highly automated FX workflows—and many of our customers have exciting innovations on their roadmaps. We’re proud to be helping the industry move faster toward a more integrated, productive FX trading experience.

The Bottom Line

FX desks are under constant pressure to move faster, stay transparent, and manage a growing number of applications. HERE technology is proving to be the foundation for modern FX platforms, enabling interoperability, secure deployment, and better user experiences—so traders can spend more time focused on markets and less time wrestling with their desktops.