Under the terms of the deal, FXCM will offer PAL's flagship FX research service to new and current clients in the region. PAL will be paid a percentage of the transaction revenues from clients who wish to use the service. The commercial terms are structured so that FXCM will continue to offer what are believed to be the most competitive dealing spreads in the region, the client will pay no additional fees for access to PAL's research, and meanwhile PAL will receive its full list price for each new client.

Shane Smith, Group CEO, comments: 'This is an excellent deal for new clients, for FXCM and for PAL. Access to the China market is a very exciting development for the Group. China presents an opportunity for many US and European firms generally, but it is worth enumerating how large that opportunity might be for PAL: FXCM is the leading non-domestic FX online broker for mainland China, serving also Singapore and Taiwan, and since opening its office in Hong Kong in March 2003, has seen month-on-month growth in accounts of 150%. China is now the fourth largest trading nation in the world, which itself creates a huge FX requirement, but in addition overseas funds are being repatriated at an unprecedented rate, putting pressure on the Yuan. Irrespective of whether the Yuan itself eventually floats, individuals and companies are anyway allowed to trade foreign currencies, and also have a famous propensity to speculate. Internet penetration is growing, and with 80 million current subscribers China is second only to the US and is on course to overtake it as the most wired nation on earth. All this points to a large and growing demand for web-delivered research services to assist in better decision-making'.

Ornit Niv, CEO of FXCM Asia, commented: 'Our client base is rapidly expanding, and has an appetite for high-quality intelligence to help in the trading decision process. We are pleased to be able to offer Pronet's leading service to our audience'.