Market Data and Brokerage / Brokerage

Brokerage

BCG Expand’s Brokerage Fees Benchmark provides an independent, data-driven view of your brokerage cost performance, identifying savings opportunities, and helping you align commercial arrangements with market best practice.

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The Challenge

  • ✔Limited visibility into true gap-to-market
  • ✔Outdated or bilateral commercial terms not aligned to current market levels
  • ✔Inconsistent pricing structures across desks, regions, and products
  • ✔Lack of reliable peer comparison to support negotiations
  • ✔Difficulty quantifying the size and location of savings opportunities

How we can help

Quantify your gap to market

Deliver volume-adjusted peer comparisons across asset classes, products, currencies and maturities to identify true over- or under-performance.

Pinpoint actionable savings opportunities

Isolate specific maturity buckets, currency pairs, and product subsets driving variance — with clear dollar-value opportunity sizing.

Arm you for negotiations

Provide defensible, data-backed market intelligence to support broker discussions and rate resets.

Client success stories

+25% Net gap to benchmark surfaced
$9.2M Gross spend above benchmark identified
Multi-asset volume-adjusted benchmarking across FX & Rates
Product-level overspend drivers clearly identified

Case Studies

Global Investment Bank – Brokerage Cost Optimization

A global investment bank partnered with BCG Expand to assess brokerage competitiveness across FX, Rates, and Equities. Our benchmarking analysis identified material gaps to market and clear opportunities to renegotiate commercial terms and optimize broker usage. The program delivered a 5–10% reduction in brokerage costs while strengthening governance and cost transparency.

Global Investment Bank – FX Options Commercial Renegotiation

A global bank operating across G10 FX Options was transacting under outdated brokerage agreements with rates materially above market levels. Using BCG Expand’s interdealer brokerage benchmark, we designed a targeted renegotiation and volume reallocation strategy. The initiative reduced headline brokerage rates by 15%+ and improved commercial competitiveness across liquidity providers.

Global Markets Division – Brokerage Benchmark Diagnostic

A global markets division sought objective visibility into brokerage spend amid tightening trading economics. BCG Expand benchmarked rates against peer data, identifying a 25% gap to market and over $9m in gross savings opportunities. The analysis guided leadership’s prioritisation of renegotiations and established a more disciplined cost management framework.

The Challenge

  • ✔Inefficient broker “tail” with overlapping coverage
  • ✔Underutilized or poorly structured volume discount arrangements
  • ✔Excessive or misaligned broker usage relative to business KPIs
  • ✔Inconsistent application of agreed rate cards globally
  • ✔Limited leverage in negotiations due to lack of market intelligence
  • ✔Failure to systematically review and refresh brokerage agreements

How we can help

Renegotiate and restructure commercials

Identify suboptimal agreements and redesign pricing structures, including volume discount schemes and caps.

Rationalize broker panels and usage

Reduce broker tail, optimize flow allocation, and align usage with business KPIs and liquidity needs.

Drive behavioral change for sustained savings

Increase cost transparency at desk level to influence trading decisions and embed continuous review processes.

Client success stories

$10M Savings achieved through negotiation and behaviour management
15%+ Headline rate reductions secured
5–10% D2D brokerage cost reduction delivered
Broker panel rationalization and volume reallocation implemented

Case Studies

Global Investment Bank – Brokerage Cost Optimization

A global investment bank partnered with BCG Expand to assess brokerage competitiveness across FX, Rates, and Equities. Our benchmarking analysis identified material gaps to market and clear opportunities to renegotiate commercial terms and optimize broker usage. The program delivered a 5–10% reduction in brokerage costs while strengthening governance and cost transparency.

Global Investment Bank – FX Options Commercial Renegotiation

A global bank operating across G10 FX Options was transacting under outdated brokerage agreements with rates materially above market levels. Using BCG Expand’s interdealer brokerage benchmark, we designed a targeted renegotiation and volume reallocation strategy. The initiative reduced headline brokerage rates by 15%+ and improved commercial competitiveness across liquidity providers.

Global Markets Division – Brokerage Benchmark Diagnostic

A global markets division sought objective visibility into brokerage spend amid tightening trading economics. BCG Expand benchmarked rates against peer data, identifying a 25% gap to market and over $9m in gross savings opportunities. The analysis guided leadership’s prioritisation of renegotiations and established a more disciplined cost management framework.

The Challenge

  • ✔No clear ownership model for brokerage spend
  • ✔Weak or fragmented governance structures
  • ✔Insufficient reporting to support effective decision-making
  • ✔Limited visibility into broker usage and exceptions
  • ✔Conduct risk exposure due to inadequate monitoring and controls
  • ✔Lack of centralized agreement libraries and reconciliation processes

How we can help

Design a robust governance model

Establish ownership structures, escalation processes, and accountability frameworks aligned to business and regulatory expectations.

Enhance transparency through reporting

Build management dashboards and supervisory reporting that highlight exceptions, excessive usage, and conduct risks.

Embed sustainable control processes

Implement broker reconciliation, approved broker lists, and agreement libraries to ensure consistent enforcement of commercial terms.

Client success stories

Firm-wide governance framework implemented
Real-time monitoring tools reducing conduct risk
End-to-end brokerage lifecycle transparency introduced
Embedded broker review processes integrated into BAU

Case Studies

Global Investment Bank – Brokerage Cost Optimization

A global investment bank partnered with BCG Expand to assess brokerage competitiveness across FX, Rates, and Equities. Our benchmarking analysis identified material gaps to market and clear opportunities to renegotiate commercial terms and optimize broker usage. The program delivered a 5–10% reduction in brokerage costs while strengthening governance and cost transparency.

Global Investment Bank – FX Options Commercial Renegotiation

A global bank operating across G10 FX Options was transacting under outdated brokerage agreements with rates materially above market levels. Using BCG Expand’s interdealer brokerage benchmark, we designed a targeted renegotiation and volume reallocation strategy. The initiative reduced headline brokerage rates by 15%+ and improved commercial competitiveness across liquidity providers.

Global Markets Division – Brokerage Benchmark Diagnostic

A global markets division sought objective visibility into brokerage spend amid tightening trading economics. BCG Expand benchmarked rates against peer data, identifying a 25% gap to market and over $9m in gross savings opportunities. The analysis guided leadership’s prioritisation of renegotiations and established a more disciplined cost management framework.

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