Another large bank is heading to Singapore to launch an electronic foreign exchange (e-FX) pricing and trading engine, with BNP Paribas joining the likes of JPMorgan, Standard Chartered, and more.
According to multiple reports from local news outlets, the French bank will launch an engine which will offer e-FX trading of 50 currencies in spot, forwards, swaps, non-deliverable forwards and options.
The engine will be launched with the support of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). As Finance Magnates reported, the MAS is trying to make the city-state the Forex trading hub of the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.
Towards the beginning of last year, UBS and Citigroup – two major financial institutions – built FX trading systems in Singapore. This was followed by Standard Chartered and JPMorgan, among others.
Commenting on the new engine, Gillian Tan, executive director, financial markets development department at the MAS said: “BNP Paribas’s decision to launch its e-FX pricing and trading engine in Singapore will be an added boost to Singapore and Asia’s FX market.”
“The engine seeks to enhance clients’ trading experiences with improved latency and pricing and will provide more efficient price discovery and improved Liquidity in the Asian trading hours for clients in the Asia-Pacific, and support global follow-the-sun execution of FX trades.”
In a statement, Christophe Jobert, head of global markets for South-east Asia at BNP Paribas, highlighted that the bank aims to give clients better access to liquidity, more efficient price discovery, and timelier trade execution with the new trading engine.
"Singapore is a key trading centre for us in Asia-Pacific, where we are committed to investing for growth. In South-east Asia, we have seen our e-FX trading volumes grow by double digits year on year," added Jobert.
BNP Paribas to roll out Cortex LIVE
In addition to launching the engine, BNP Paribas will also be rolling out Cortex LIVE - the bank’s single dealer platform. This platform will provide clients in Singapore access to a real-time digital trading assistant and market intelligence.
