More Traction for Singapore as Nomura Launches e-FX Engine
Posted by Colin Lambert. Last updated: May 17, 2021
Efforts on the part of Singapore to build its presence as an e-FX trading hub for Asia have been given a further boost by news that Nomura is to launch an e-FX pricing and trading engine in the city state with the support of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
This will be Nomura’s fourth e-FX pricing engine following others in Tokyo, London and New York. Its ability to plug into Singapore’s e-FX infrastructure will benefit Nomura’s Asian client base, as the group continues its focus on non-deliverable forwards and G10 FX in the region, the bank says.
“As a global financial services group with a strong presence in Singapore, we are fully committed to supporting the city-state’s development as a major global FX hub,” says Rig Karkhanis, deputy head of global markets and global head of FX and emerging markets at Nomura. “This initiative, which is expected to go live later this year, will help support our clients with better infrastructure for execution, improved access to liquidity and effective price discovery.”
The launch is aligned with MAS’s strategic plan to strengthen Singapore’s standing as a major trading and corporate treasury hub, and develop its FX market to serve the growing trading and hedging needs in the region. Several bank have either launched engines there, or plan to in the coming months, increasing the focus on the primary FX ECNs in Matching and EBS Market, neither of which is positioned there, although sources say Refinitiv may be looking at such a launch.
“MAS welcomes Nomura’s establishment of its FX pricing and matching engine in Singapore. It will bolster the build-up of a critical mass of market participants in our FX e-trading ecosystem, and strengthen Singapore’s proposition as a leading FX hub in the Asian time zone,” says Lim Cheng Khai, executive director, financial markets development, MAS.