Who the European Central Bank is
The European Central Bank is the central bank of the euro area, based in Frankfurt. Among the statistics it publishes are the euro foreign exchange reference rates: one rate per working day for each currency on its list, quoted against the euro.
The rates come from a daily concertation between central banks across Europe, normally around 14:10 CET, and are usually published around 16:00 CET on every working day except TARGET closing days. The ECB publishes them for information purposes only and strongly discourages using them for transactions, which is why our FX module uses them as a reference, not as a rate to trade at.
What it does in your platform
FX
Gives the module the euro reference rate for each currency the ECB covers, once per working day. Live quotes from your liquidity providers can be compared with it, and where you show it to customers, it appears as published, with the ECB named as the source.
How the connection works
There is no account or key. The connector reads what the ECB publishes openly: the daily reference rates file, and the ECB Data Portal's SDMX web service for history.
The concertation
Around 14:10 CET on a working day, central banks across Europe hold the daily concertation the rates are based on.
Publication
The ECB usually publishes the new rates around 16:00 CET, each one quoted against the euro.
The module reads them
The connector fetches the day's rates and keeps each one with its date, so every figure can be traced to an ECB publication.
Quotes are compared
Through the day, live quotes from your liquidity providers are compared with the latest reference rates.
Closing days
On TARGET closing days the ECB publishes nothing new, so the last published rates stay the latest.
Next to other rate sources
The ECB sits in the module's reference rates group with LSEG and Open Exchange Rates. Its rates arrive once a working day for a set list of currencies, while the others update during the day and cover more currencies, so they suit different jobs: the ECB as a daily euro benchmark, the others for checks between publications.
None of them is liquidity: trades go to your liquidity providers or your own counterparties. Adding or removing a reference source does not change your apps.
When the European Central Bank fits best
A strong fit when
- You work in euros and want a daily euro benchmark from a public source.
- You want reference rates whose method and timing are published and the same for everyone.
- You want rates you may show and reuse, with the ECB cited as the source.
Also worth a look
- Open Exchange Rates or LSEG, when you need more currencies or rates that update during the day.
- A rate source from your own treasury or partner bank, which the module can take instead.
How we get you live
The source
There is no contract or key: the ECB publishes the rates openly. We connect the module to the daily rates and to the ECB Data Portal, with the ECB named as the source wherever the rates are shown.
Their role
We agree with you what the ECB rates do in your platform: a benchmark for live quotes and a reference you can show, never the rate a customer trades at.
The calendar
The module expects one publication per TARGET working day, in the late afternoon CET, so a closing day is not mistaken for a stalled source.
A full test run
We replay recent ECB history through the module in a test environment and check the comparisons before launch.
