Thomson Reuters FX volumes surged on "Brexit" Friday

LONDON, June 27 (Reuters) - Spot trading in currencies on platforms owned by Thomson Reuters (Dusseldorf: TOC.DU - news) jumped by three times on Friday, amid sharp swings in the British pound and other major pairs after Britain voted to leave the European Union.

Total (LSE: 524773.L - news) volumes of all currency trading, including derivatives and other instruments, also hit a high of $482 billion on Friday, up from May's average of $347 billion as sterling posted its worst day in the era of free floating exchange rates.

Spot volumes on TR platforms, the leader in Commonwealth currencies including sterling and the Australian and New Zealand dollars , rose to $258 billion, compared to a daily average of $94 billion seen in May.

"The volumes illustrate the importance of neutral venues like Thomson Reuters on busy days when price determination is mission critical," a Thomson Reuters spokewoman said.

Electronic currency trading platform EBS, owned by inter-dealer broker ICAP (LSE: IAP.L - news) also saw a rise in trading volumes on Friday.

The jump in volumes on the electronic platforms offers hope to a market where trading volumes have been suffering in the past few months. On EBS, where the bulk of the trades in dollars, yen and euros are carried out, volumes were down 21 percent in May from a year ago.

(Reporting by Anirban Nag and Patrick Graham)