Saxo opens trading platform with advanced API
Saxo Bank is to allow access to its multi-asset trading and back office infrastructure through a new open API.
The API will be available to developers allowing them to build applications on Saxo Bank’s infrastructure. Institutional clients, including white label partners, will be able to integrate Saxo’s trading functionality into their own applications and systems.
The Saxo OpenAPI has been introduced to coincide with the launch of Saxo Markets, the bank’s institutional business based in Singapore, London and Copenhagen.
Matteo Cassina, head of business lines at Saxo Bank, described the launch as a step—change for the industry: “For a long time the industry has grappled with the dilemma of building versus buying, but the pace of technological change has made it impossible for institutions to maintain an edge when it comes to innovation. The result is a paradigm shift from a business-to-customer economy to a so-called collaborative economy,” he said.
“The accelerated adoption of technology and the increase in mobile business-to-customer interaction presents a huge growth opportunity for our partners, offering the potential to multiply trading volumes, create new revenue streams and protect their businesses against rapid digital change.”
SaxoTraderGO, the new trading platform launched earlier this year is based on the Open API. The bank says that 30% of its own clients have migrated to the new platform, which will be available to Saxo’s white label clients in October. 120 financial institutions currently use Saxo’s technology to provide trading for their end clients.
The API is based on the REST – Representational State Transfer – software architecture used by the World Wide Web.
“REST is already widespread among tech giants who have built entire business models around Open API,” said Christian Hammer, head of platforms at Saxo Bank. The financial industry however, has been late to the party. Some banks already offer access to third party developers to build specific features or apps but we are offering much deeper functionality and access to our entire trading infrastructure. We are essentially decoupling our infrastructure from the user experience to become a trading facilitator.”
The OpenAPI will cover the whole trading lifecycle including access to over 30,000 instruments, the ability to monitor positions, balances and margin from a single API. Saxo is launching a Developers Portal with documentation, libraries, sample code and technical support.
