Investments

BNY Mellon Expands FX Footprint in Singapore with Launch of FX Pricing and Trading Engine

BNY Mellon has announced that it will build a high-performance FX pricing and trading engine in partnership with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the latest milestone as the bank continues to enhance its foreign exchange presence in the region.

The bank will establish new low-latency electronic FX infrastructure in the Southeast Asian nation, helping to improve execution quality and price discovery for clients initially in spot, and subsequently in deliverable and non-deliverable forwards and swaps, according to a press release by the firm.

Darren Boulos, Head of FX Sales and Trading, Asia Pacific, BNY Mellon, said: “We've spent the past four years fully integrating and accentuating our global FX capabilities, and this is just the next step in the bank's commitment to the region, specifically to Singapore as the hub of our Asia G10 FX trading. With the benefit of local support, we can accelerate our offering of additive liquidity to clients.”

Gillian Tan, Executive Director, Financial Markets Development, MAS, said: “BNY Mellon is a welcome addition to Singapore's FX e-trading ecosystem. he importance of robust and resilient infrastructure to support FX trading activities cannot be understated, and we are heartened that FX players that have set up their regional pricing and matching engines in Singapore have reported greater efficiency in price discovery and improved execution for their clients.”

BNY Mellon already sees significant FX volumes in Singapore across more than 70 deliverable currencies, including in most restricted APAC markets, thanks to the uniquely uncorrelated liquidity that comes with executing daily flows for clients of its large custody franchise, says the firm. In 2019, the bank set up a dedicated FX custody trading desk in Singapore, relocated its Short-Term Interest Rate Trading (STIRT) business from Hong Kong, and established a Singapore options trading desk.

BNY Mellon is a global investments company dedicated to helping its clients manage and service their financial assets throughout the investment lifecycle. Whether providing financial services for institutions, corporations, or individual investors, BNY Mellon delivers informed investment management and investment services in 35 countries. As of March 31, 2020, BNY Mellon had USD35.2 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration, and USD1.8 trillion in assets under management.