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Judgement Day: Algorithmic Trading Around the Swiss Franc Cap Removal

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  • Francis Breedon
  • Louisa Chen
  • Angelo Ranaldo
  • Nicholas Vause

Abstract

A key issue raised by the rapid growth of computerised algorithmic trading is how it responds in extreme situations. Using data on foreign exchange orders and transactions that includes identification of algorithmic trading, we find that this type of trading contributed to the deterioration of market quality following the removal of the cap on the Swiss franc on 15 January 2015, which was an event that came as a complete surprise to market participants. In particular, we find that algorithmic traders withdrew liquidity and generated uninformative volatility in Swiss franc currency pairs, while human traders did the opposite. However, we find no evidence that algorithmic trading propagated these adverse effects on market quality to other currency pairs.

Suggested Citation

  • Francis Breedon & Louisa Chen & Angelo Ranaldo & Nicholas Vause, 2018. "Judgement Day: Algorithmic Trading Around the Swiss Franc Cap Removal," Working Papers on Finance 1808, University of St. Gallen, School of Finance.
    • Handle: RePEc:usg:sfwpfi:2018:08
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    Cited by:

    1. Arumugam, Devika & Prasanna, P. Krishna & Marathe, Rahul R., 2023. "Do algorithmic traders exploit volatility?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    2. Giancarlo Corsetti & Romain Lafarguette & Arnaud Mehl, 2019. "Fast Trading and the Virtue of Entropy: Evidence from the Foreign Exchange Market," Discussion Papers 1914, Centre for Macroeconomics (CFM).
    3. Joseph, Andreas & Vasios, Michalis, 2022. "OTC Microstructure in a period of stress: A Multi-layered network approach," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    4. Markus Hertrich, 2022. "Foreign exchange interventions under a minimum exchange rate regime and the Swiss franc," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 450-489, May.
    5. Ranaldo, Angelo & Somogyi, Fabricius, 2021. "Asymmetric information risk in FX markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(2), pages 391-411.
    6. Joseph, Andreas & Vasios, Michalis & Maizels, Olga & Shreyas, Ujwal & Tanner, John, 2019. "OTC microstructure in a period of stress: a multi‑layered network approach," Bank of England working papers 832, Bank of England.
    7. Ranaldo, Angelo & de Magistris, Paolo Santucci, 2022. "Liquidity in the global currency market," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(3), pages 859-883.
    8. Hertrich, Markus, 2020. "Foreign exchange interventions under a one-sided target zone regime and the Swiss franc," Discussion Papers 21/2020, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    9. Steffen, Viktoria, 2023. "A literature review on extreme price movements with reversal," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Swiss franc; algorithmic trading; liquidity; volatility; price discovery; arbitrage opportunities;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors

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