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HFTs and Dealer Banks: Liquidity and Price Discovery in FX Trading

Author

Listed:
  • Wenqian Huang

    (Bank for International Settlements)

  • Peter O'Neill

    (University of New South Wales)

  • Angelo Ranaldo

    (University of St. Gallen; Swiss Finance Institute)

  • Shihao Yu

    (Columbia University)

Abstract

In this paper, we characterise the liquidity provision and price discovery roles of dealers and HFTs in the FX spot market during the sample period between 2012 and 2015. We find that they have different responses to adverse market conditions: HFT liquidity provision is less sensitive to spikes in market-wide volatility, while dealer bank liquidity is more robust ahead of scheduled macroeconomic news announcements when adverse selection risk is high. In periods of extreme levels of volatility, such as the `Swiss De-peg' event in our sample, HFTs appear to withdraw almost all liquidity while dealers remain. In normal times, we also find that HFTs contribute to market liquidity by passively trading against the pricing errors created by dealers' aggressive trade flows. On price discovery, HFTs contribute the dominant share, mostly through their high-frequency quote updates which incorporate public information. In contrast, dealers contribute to price discovery more through trades that impound private information.

Suggested Citation

  • Wenqian Huang & Peter O'Neill & Angelo Ranaldo & Shihao Yu, 2023. "HFTs and Dealer Banks: Liquidity and Price Discovery in FX Trading," Swiss Finance Institute Research Paper Series 23-48, Swiss Finance Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp2348
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

    1. Huang, Wenqian & Ranaldo, Angelo & Schrimpf, Andreas & Somogyi, Fabricius, 2025. "Constrained liquidity provision in currency markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    HFT; Dealer Banks; Liquidity; Price Discovery; FX;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages

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