Barclays to Build Out FX Trading Infrastructure in Singapore

Barclays will launch an FX trading and pricing engine in Singapore by mid-2021, adding to existing platforms in New York, London and Tokyo.

Barclays will be launching its new FX trading and pricing engine in Singapore as part of a push to strengthen its FX presence in Asia-Pacific, reports Bloomberg.

The move comes as MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) seeks to develop Singapore into the top FX trading centre in the region. Specifically, the regulator wants pricing and matching engines to be based in Singapore to avoid the time lag for prices to be matched in London, New York, or Tokyo.

JP Morgan, Standard Chartered, UBS, Citi, BNP Paribas, Jump Trading and XTX Markets have similarly already built their own FX trading infrastructure in Singapore. BNY Mellon and Deutsche Bank have also recently confirmed plans to launch an FX trading engine in Singapore.

Scheduled to launch in mid-2021, Barclays’ new FX trading and pricing engine will make Singapore the bank’s fourth electronic FX trading hub globally, adding to its existing platforms in New York, London and Tokyo.

With infrastructure in Singapore, local and regional market participants will be able to benefit from increased price discovery, lower latency and improved quality of execution, Barclays said in a statement.

The bank will build out a local version of its cross-asset electronic trading platform known as BARX. This will include the use of its BARX Direct technology for pricing algorithms and low-latency co-location connectivity.

“This move delivers a substantial enhancement to our product delivery here in Singapore and across the APAC region,” said Cameron Booth, head of eFICC distribution in Asia at Barclays. “Significantly improved latency and our next generation pricing, execution, and algorithms will drive growth and strengthen our broad client franchise in Asia.”