Barclays to deploy its latest FX trading and pricing engine in Singapore

Barclays is poised to deploy its latest FX trading and pricing engine in Singapore, under the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) FX Trading Hub strategy. This marks Barclays’ latest milestone as it continues to expand its FX presence in Asia Pacific.

Barclays will be building out a local instance of FX trading system BARX. This will include the rollout of the latest BARX Direct technology which combines next-generation pricing algorithms with ultra-low latency co-location connectivity. With the BARX infrastructure being based in Singapore, local and regional market participants will be able to leverage existing BARX functionality while benefitting from increased price discovery, lower latency and improved quality of execution.

Furthermore, BARX Direct for 1-month Non Deliverable Forwards (NDFs) will provide tighter and more accurate prices with reduced latency through localised co-location client connectivity and price discovery.

In discussing the benefits for clients, Cameron Booth, Head of eFICC Distribution Asia, said, “This move delivers a substantial enhancement to our product delivery here in Singapore and across the APAC region. Significantly improved latency, and our next generation pricing, execution and algorithms will drive growth and strengthen our broad client franchise in Asia.”

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

This partnership with MAS is part of the central bank’s strategic initiative to cement Singapore’s position as the top FX trading centre in Asia Pacific.