Schwarz to Leave FXSpotStream

Alan Schwarz, CEO and co-founder of FXSpotStream, is to leave the firm on 1 February, The Full FX understands the move was not part of a planned changeover.

Schwarz, who has led the company for over 11 years, is leaving the firm for unspecified reasons, in a message he says he is keeping the drivers of his departure to himself, and sources say that COO Tom San Pietro will take control in the immediate interim.

Schwarz co-founded LiquidityMatch/FXSpotStream in 2011 after leaving Icap, where he had worked for over seven years as general counsel for the Americas. He has presided over strong volume growth for FXSpotStream during his tenure, in 2016 average daily volumes at the platform were just over $18 billion per day, in 2022 they stood at $63.5 billion, thanks to a combination of new liquidity providers and clients.

In his message Schwarz says, “I am very proud of what we have built as an internal team at FXSpotStream. I have learned a great deal during this decade plus journey and have been fortunate to watch as people at the company have grown personally and professionally.

“We have been extremely lucky to have the support of so many clients and vendor partners around the world as we have built a truly great business and brand from scratch. I thank every one of our clients and vendor partners who have been with us for so many years,” he adds. “I must recognise our incredibly supportive FX margin brokers in Japan who were there in the very early days in 2011 and have never left us. I will always be indebted to their loyalty and for making me feel part of their family. And, for those banks that have supported our business, thank you for helping us become the leading global disclosed streaming service to the FX market.”

The news has raised speculation that FXSpotStream’s owners, predominantly banks, are considering putting the platform up for sale. This would follow a similar path to other bank-owned consortia such as EBS and FXall, that were both sold to private concerns. One source familiar with matters at the platform says that a sale is a distinct possibility because “there is a sense current business has grown as far as it can”.

Although the platform operates a relatively unique subscription-style brokerage model, there are also rumours in the market that there may have been pressure to change this, as those LPs winning less business were paying significantly higher dollar-per-million charges than their peers.