EM FX Trading Question - What does the desk do + Interview Advice
Hi all, longtime lurker here posting for insights
I recently applied to a Korea FX Trading Analyst seat on an EM/Currencies desk at a BB. The JD mentions coverage of KRW Spot / FX Swaps / NDFs, client flow pricing and execution support, market color write-ups, and building desk analytics (flow recaps, P&L drivers, risk summaries), plus some automation work in Excel/Python.
Two questions for anyone on an EM FX desk or who's been through interviews for one:
1. What does this seat actually look like day-to-day?
How much of KRW (or EM FX in general) flow at a global bank is onshore (spot/swap through the onshore interbank market) vs. offshore NDF? My understanding is offshore NDF dominates EM FX volume overall outside of domestic banks — so curious how flow is split between local and foreign desks like Singapore/London desks
What does the client mix look like for EM FX — is it mostly offshore macro funds trading NDFs, or corporates/FIs hedging equity and bond flows into Equity Index/local currencyy?
2. How should I prepare for the interview?
What technicals should I expect beyond standard S&T questions — FX swap pricing/covered interest parity intuition, NDF vs DF mechanics, KRW (or any EM FX) drivers (export flows, KTB/STB rates, BoK policy, USDKRW correlation to risk)?
For a new-grad trader seat, do interviews at this level lean more toward fit/motivation or market knowledge? Any Korea-specific market questions (e.g., onshore vs offshore forward curves, market structure reforms)?
Anything else you'd flag — Excel/Python I'm comfortable with, but want to know what would actually differentiate a candidate.
Any insight from people on FX desks (Asia EM especially) would be hugely appreciated.
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