JPMorgan trader sent a $100m order by mobile

7 years ago - Published in Commodities, Finance

JP Morgan’s corporate investment banking division CEO Daniel Pinto announced Tuesday that one of the bank’s clients used their cell phone to make a $100 million trade. One of the most respected senior executives in the industry highlights the changes that are coming to institutional FX trading at a time when his company invested $9.5 billion in new technology. Pinto’s announcement Tuesday may be proof the investments were worth the risk.

“We have seen a $100 million trade done on a mobile phone, and on peak days in 2016, $200 billion in FX was traded through our electronic channels, including our own J.P. Morgan Markets platform, which provides a range of services from research to pre- and post-trade reporting,” Pinto wrote Tuesday in an annual letter to shareholders. “The electronic evolution is advancing, and the investments we’ve made, and will continue to make, already are proving their merit to our clients.”

"Our profitable Markets business, which generated an overall ROE of 17% last year, enables us to invest in innovation and the client experience," Pinto wrote.

Pinto said the firm fundamentally believes clients should be able to choose how to trade with JPMorgan. He emphasized that it's the firm's strong technical capabilities that allow clients trade through turbulent times like Brexit and the US presidential election last year.

"The electronic evolution is advancing, and the investments we've made, and will continue to make, already are proving their merit to our clients," Pinto wrote.

Institutional FX trading via mobile is picking up in recent years and this is not news. The statement made by JPMorgan is however highlighting the speed and significance of this shift. Big ticket traders are moving into mobile and the likelihood that this trend will persist is significant.

Retail brokers were very fast to adopt advanced charting and trading solutions for mobile devices and this trend is inevitably spreading to institutions. The gap that is left wide open can be capitalized on by mobile trading focused companies.