ICAP’s Forex ECN unit EBS reports volumes of just $78.7 billion daily in August.

The question for ICAP — which after a strong start to the year for EBS volumes in January and February, has seen volumes drop off during an otherwise strong 2013 — is whether this is just the summer doldrums, or an erosion of its market position to Thomson Reuters, FXall, and the rapidly-rising Hotspot FX.

EBS reported August volume metrics at $78.7 billion daily — down 12% from July, down 18% from last year August, and EBS’s worst month since it began reporting monthly volumes in 2006, as per the chart below.

While all Forex ECNs, like equity exchanges, typically see a summer volumes slowdown in July and especially in August, the problems seems much deeper than that at EBS. It has been more than a year and a half since Gil Mandelzis was promoted internally within ICAP to run the EBS Forex ECN unit, replacing David Rutter, yet volumes keep moving in the wrong direction.

We should get Thomson Reuters and FXall figures in the coming days for comparison. Stay tuned to LeapRate…

For more on the global Forex industry see the LeapRate-Dow Jones Forex Industry Report.