Finteum hits USD $1bn weekly intraday FX swap trades

Finteum has reported USD 1 billion in weekly intraday foreign exchange swap trades after Goldman Sachs began trading on its platform and NatWest Group and UBS increased activity.

The London- and New York-based firm operates a marketplace for banks' intraday liquidity management. It uses intraday FX swaps to enable banks to borrow and lend cash within the trading day.

The update adds another major dealer to a project at the intersection of cash management, short-term funding and market infrastructure. Banks are focusing more on intraday liquidity as payment rails accelerate and settlement windows tighten across asset classes.

Goldman Sachs has completed its first series of intraday FX swap trades on Finteum. During that initial activity, Finteum also recorded its largest intraday FX swap trade to date.

NatWest Group and UBS have continued to scale volumes on the platform. Other banks are also trading ahead of going live.

Regulatory focus

Intraday liquidity has attracted greater attention from supervisors and bank treasury functions. The European Central Bank published sound practices for intraday liquidity management in late 2024, adding to an agenda shaped by instant payments, extended trading hours and growing interest in round-the-clock markets.

Finteum expects more banks to join over the next two years and forecasts 10 banks will be live on the platform by the end of 2026 as the market for intraday funding tools develops.

Daily global turnover in the broader FX market runs into the trillions of dollars, and repo markets are also large sources of secured short-term funding. Finteum is positioning intraday FX swaps as a complement to existing FX and money market activity, focused on same-day and within-day funding needs rather than longer-dated liquidity management.

How it works

Finteum runs a peer-to-peer platform using distributed ledger technology. Banks use it to arrange intraday FX swaps that exchange one currency for another and then reverse the same day.

Trades are executed on TP ICAP's UK multilateral trading facility. Participants can source key currencies, including USD, EUR, GBP and CHF through the platform.

Finteum is working with technology partners on digital money solutions and on payment-versus-payment settlement for intraday FX swaps as it develops the product through 2026.

Bank deployments

Finteum's network operates as a distributed system. UBS and NatWest Group deployed Finteum platform components within their own infrastructure.

This approach is intended to improve data privacy and operational resilience compared with centralised systems. Finteum also offers infrastructure hosting for banks that want a faster route to trading.

The platform's growth comes as treasurers and liquidity managers assess new ways to monitor and move cash positions during the day. Intraday shortfalls can arise from payment flows, margin calls, settlement timing mismatches and internal funding movements between entities and currencies.

Large banks already manage these risks using a mix of internal liquidity buffers, central bank facilities and market instruments. Finteum's model focuses on a specific intraday window and a defined set of currencies, with execution through an established trading venue.

What participants said

Carey Halio, Global Treasurer of Goldman Sachs, described how the product fits the bank's liquidity management approach.

"Intraday FX swaps are a powerful new tool to help Goldman Sachs efficiently manage our liquidity needs. We are pleased to work with Finteum to advance this market, leveraging distributed ledger technology to execute transactions and move cash in near real time, at scale," said Carey Halio, Global Treasurer, Goldman Sachs.

NatWest Group pointed to faster payment and settlement environments as key drivers of change in treasury operations.

"The movement of money is faster than ever before, and as markets shift towards real-time settlement, managing intraday liquidity has become critical. Technologies like DLT are transforming how quickly and confidently institutions can see, deploy and control liquidity throughout the day - our work with Finteum is an important part of this evolution as it enables greater speed, flexibility and certainty as we adapt to a world where funding and settlement happen continuously rather than at set points throughout a day," said Donal Quaid, Group Treasurer, NatWest Group.

UBS framed its increased volumes as part of a broader innovation agenda in its investment bank.

"We are committed to driving innovation across our Capital Markets businesses, including how we source and manage liquidity in an evolving real-time market environment. By increasing intraday FX swap volumes on the Finteum Platform, we are enhancing our ability to manage liquidity efficiently - optimising our balance sheet at scale and ultimately delivering greater value to our clients. This initiative reflects our focus on leveraging cutting-edge technology to meet the demands of faster settlement cycles and rising regulatory expectations," said Anthony Clark-Jones, Portfolio Lead - Strategic Ventures, UBS Investment Bank.

Finteum's management linked the volume milestone to the development of a new market segment for intraday funding and short-dated FX swaps.

"Reaching the USD 1 billion weekly trade threshold is a significant moment for Finteum and for the evolution of intraday liquidity markets. Banks globally are looking for ways to operate more efficiently in real time, and intraday FX swaps are becoming an important tool in meeting this requirement," said Brian Nolan, CEO and Co-Founder, Finteum.

"We are proud to be working with some of the world's leading institutions who are helping to shape this new market. This milestone shows the momentum behind our platform as we continue to expand participation and functionality through 2026," he added.