The perks of coding in HTML5 are well-documented by developers and service providers, but interesting real-world platforms based on the protocol are coming to commercial fruition in increasing numbers. One of the latest comes from the world of high finance, in the form of a currency-trading platform from ICAP’s EBS division.

ICAP provides services that match buyers and sellers in the wholesale markets for interest rates, credit, commodities, forex (currency-trading, or FX), emerging markets and equity derivatives through voice and electronic networks. Its EBS business is at the heart of electronic spot FX trading. It’s prepping an integrated trading platform that offers a 360-degree view of EBS’s products and services, new analytics and access to its trusted liquidity, in a single, fully customizable screen.

The platform, dubbed “Everything EBS,” is built with HTML5 and has been developed for over two years. It mashes up EBS’s microstructures along with advanced trading algorithms and integrated visual analytics to provide access to EBS Market, EBS Direct and EBS Select, and multiple FX instruments such as spot, precious metals, NDFs and outrights and swaps.

Crucially, thanks to HTML5, the portal can be rendered on standard browsers, and a EBS Workstation app. That means that customers can be migrated across to the UI without the need for any system upgrades (and will still have the ability to select the ‘classic’ view for traditional EBS trading if they choose). And, there’s a future-proofing aspect With EBS set to continue its multi-product expansion throughout 2015 and 2016, the platform can be scaled up to accommodate new instruments and services without the need for client-side updates or tweaks.

“This will give customers the flexibility to select how they execute trades and optimize opportunities across EBS’s deep and diverse liquidity while supporting all trading strategies,” the company said.

The platform goes live with EBS Direct in the third quarter, and EBS Market in the fourth, with additional modules to be added over time.

“Game-changing technology lays the foundations for superior execution quality and reliability in FX trading,” said Viral Tolat, CTO and global head of products at EBS. “Leveraging the latest technological advances, we have created a pioneering trading platform that is as agile as it is all-encompassing. Fully integrated in one screen and with substantial new features and system upgrades, EBS’s new platform will help customers get to market faster and enrich their overall trading experience. This next generation upgrade will serve us as a model for platform innovation for years to come, applicable well beyond the realms of what we already do today.”