As FX trading volumes in Singapore continue to grow, market
participants are confident that the connectivity and trading infrastructure are
in place to support current and future market requirements.
The most recent triennial central bank survey of the global
FX and OTC derivatives market, conducted by the Bank for International
Settlements, found that average daily FX trading volumes in Singapore increased
by 60% between April 2022 and April 2025, driven by robust growth in US dollar,
Japanese yen, and euro trading.
Volumes in FX spot, forwards, and swaps (which together
accounted for 90% of Singapore’s turnover) rose by between 42% and 61%.
Singapore strengthened its position as the third largest FX
centre in the world after the UK and the US, with its share of global FX
volumes rising to 11.8% and accounting for almost $1 trillion of FX trading
every day.
MAS Highlights Liquidity Role
The executive director of the financial markets development
department at MAS refers to deeper liquidity in the Asian time zone to support
economic and hedging needs in the region as a key factor in this increase and
highlighted Singapore’s role as an efficient price discovery hub.
Banks Anchor Regional FX Teams
With all of the top five global banks housing their regional
FX sales and trading teams in Singapore, the city-state offers a deep and
liquid market for the trading and hedging of G10 currencies, as well as Asian
emerging market currencies.
Electronic Trading Demands Rise
Jean-Philippe Malé, CEO, SGX FX
As more trading shifts to electronic platforms, the demands
on infrastructure naturally increase—especially during volatile periods when
activity spikes. That is the view of Jean-Philippe Malé, CEO SGX FX, who is
satisfied that infrastructure development has kept pace with the development of
the FX market.
“The market continues to function smoothly, and that speaks
to the depth of investment in infrastructure in Singapore,” he says. “We
operate from Singapore to connect global participants to Asian currency risk
with our on-premise and cloud-based environments to support trading at scale.”
Infrastructure Supports FX Expansion
Singapore is a highly advanced economy with world-class
digital infrastructure and ubiquitous internet access, and Interactive Brokers
sees growth in domestic clients using its institutional-grade FX rates in
support of their trading of overseas assets.
Yujun Lin, CEO, Interactive Brokers Singapore
“From our perspective, data centre capacity and trading
bandwidth has not been an issue, and we are confident that the local
infrastructure is more than capable of supporting future growth,” says Yujun
Lin, CEO of Interactive Brokers Singapore.
Chaitanya Peddada, chief operating officer of Spark Systems
(a Singapore-based fintech that develops ultra-low latency FX trading platforms
and technology solutions), also observes that Singapore’s data centre
infrastructure has broadly kept pace with the growth in electronic FX trading,
particularly as the market has moved towards more continuous, automated
execution.
Shift to Localised Processing
A key shift has been the move to localised processing and
matching, which has reduced reliance on offshore infrastructure and improved
latency for institutional participants.
“FX trading has become significantly more data-intensive,”
he says. “Platforms are processing large volumes of market data, orders, and
trade information on a near-continuous basis, placing increasing demands on
infrastructure. As a result, the focus is on delivering consistent,
sub-millisecond performance, resilience, and the ability to scale without
introducing latency.”
Singapore Positioned for FX Growth
With strong global connectivity, sub-millisecond
performance, and scalable infrastructure in place, Peddada reckons Singapore is
well-positioned to support its continued expansion as a leading global FX
trading hub.
Chaitanya Peddada, Chief Operating Officer, Spark Systems
From a sell-side perspective, Singapore’s data centres have
on the whole kept up with demand, suggests Philip Huang, chief risk officer at
Orient Futures Singapore.
“The infrastructure is stable and capable of supporting
electronic FX trading,” he says. “That said, most liquidity in Asia is still
concentrated in Tokyo (TY3), which remains the main price discovery centre.
While Singapore (SG1) has strong CNH liquidity, broader G10 and regional FX
liquidity is still largely anchored in Tokyo, New York, and London.”
MAS Builds E-Trading Infrastructure
Over the last few years, MAS has been working with banks and
trading platforms to build up Singapore’s e-trading infrastructure. The
regulator hopes this will improve price discovery and FX trade execution in the
region and provide market participants with reduced latency, better pricing,
and liquidity.
According to Malé, Singapore already has the fundamentals it
needs to support its future electronic FX ambitions in the form of deep
liquidity, global participation, and strong regulatory oversight.
Philip Huang, Chief Risk Officer, Orient Futures Singapore
“That is why it consistently ranks among the top FX centres
globally,” he says. “What is changing now is how firms trade, as more risk is
managed across asset classes.
For us, FX is part of our broader multi-asset
platform, which allows participants to manage currency exposure alongside
equities, rates, and commodities. That integrated set-up strengthens
Singapore’s role in a market that is becoming more electronic and
interconnected.”
Connectivity and Matching Engines
Singapore’s rise as a major global FX centre has been
closely linked to improvements in connectivity and trading infrastructure, and
the city-state now benefits from strong regional and international network
links, local matching capabilities, and an increasingly sophisticated
institutional ecosystem—all of which support low-latency electronic trading,
explains Peddada.
“From our perspective, the ability to operate local matching
engines across key FX centres—including Singapore, Tokyo, London, and New
York—plays an important role in mitigating latency in a global market,” he
says. “By matching trades closer to end users, participants can access
liquidity more efficiently without relying solely on offshore infrastructure.”
South East Asia Colocation Data Center Portfolio Report 2025: Singapore Dominates the Existing Market with a Power Capacity of More Than 780 MW – pic.twitter.com/OrYIF0TofQ
— Latest News from Business Wire (@NewsFromBW) January 6, 2026
Future Electronic FX Challenges
Given Singapore’s status as a fast-growing and systemically
important FX hub, Peddada believes the combination of low-latency
infrastructure, deep connectivity, and institutional participation positions
the market to play a leading role in the next phase of electronic FX
development.
Huang also agrees that Singapore has the connectivity and
technical infrastructure needed to support further growth in electronic FX
trading, although he acknowledges that other challenges remain.
“The bigger issue is where pricing is generated,” he
concludes. “Many liquidity providers still run their main pricing engines in
other regional hubs. For Singapore to strengthen its position as an electronic
FX hub, more liquidity providers would need to originate pricing directly from
SG1 rather than simply distribute prices from other regional centres.”
As FX trading volumes in Singapore continue to grow, market
participants are confident that the connectivity and trading infrastructure are
in place to support current and future market requirements.
The most recent triennial central bank survey of the global
FX and OTC derivatives market, conducted by the Bank for International
Settlements, found that average daily FX trading volumes in Singapore increased
by 60% between April 2022 and April 2025, driven by robust growth in US dollar,
Japanese yen, and euro trading.
Volumes in FX spot, forwards, and swaps (which together
accounted for 90% of Singapore’s turnover) rose by between 42% and 61%.
Singapore strengthened its position as the third largest FX
centre in the world after the UK and the US, with its share of global FX
volumes rising to 11.8% and accounting for almost $1 trillion of FX trading
every day.
MAS Highlights Liquidity Role
The executive director of the financial markets development
department at MAS refers to deeper liquidity in the Asian time zone to support
economic and hedging needs in the region as a key factor in this increase and
highlighted Singapore’s role as an efficient price discovery hub.
Banks Anchor Regional FX Teams
With all of the top five global banks housing their regional
FX sales and trading teams in Singapore, the city-state offers a deep and
liquid market for the trading and hedging of G10 currencies, as well as Asian
emerging market currencies.
Electronic Trading Demands Rise
Jean-Philippe Malé, CEO, SGX FX
As more trading shifts to electronic platforms, the demands
on infrastructure naturally increase—especially during volatile periods when
activity spikes. That is the view of Jean-Philippe Malé, CEO SGX FX, who is
satisfied that infrastructure development has kept pace with the development of
the FX market.
“The market continues to function smoothly, and that speaks
to the depth of investment in infrastructure in Singapore,” he says. “We
operate from Singapore to connect global participants to Asian currency risk
with our on-premise and cloud-based environments to support trading at scale.”
Infrastructure Supports FX Expansion
Singapore is a highly advanced economy with world-class
digital infrastructure and ubiquitous internet access, and Interactive Brokers
sees growth in domestic clients using its institutional-grade FX rates in
support of their trading of overseas assets.
Yujun Lin, CEO, Interactive Brokers Singapore
“From our perspective, data centre capacity and trading
bandwidth has not been an issue, and we are confident that the local
infrastructure is more than capable of supporting future growth,” says Yujun
Lin, CEO of Interactive Brokers Singapore.
Chaitanya Peddada, chief operating officer of Spark Systems
(a Singapore-based fintech that develops ultra-low latency FX trading platforms
and technology solutions), also observes that Singapore’s data centre
infrastructure has broadly kept pace with the growth in electronic FX trading,
particularly as the market has moved towards more continuous, automated
execution.
Shift to Localised Processing
A key shift has been the move to localised processing and
matching, which has reduced reliance on offshore infrastructure and improved
latency for institutional participants.
“FX trading has become significantly more data-intensive,”
he says. “Platforms are processing large volumes of market data, orders, and
trade information on a near-continuous basis, placing increasing demands on
infrastructure. As a result, the focus is on delivering consistent,
sub-millisecond performance, resilience, and the ability to scale without
introducing latency.”
Singapore Positioned for FX Growth
With strong global connectivity, sub-millisecond
performance, and scalable infrastructure in place, Peddada reckons Singapore is
well-positioned to support its continued expansion as a leading global FX
trading hub.
Chaitanya Peddada, Chief Operating Officer, Spark Systems
From a sell-side perspective, Singapore’s data centres have
on the whole kept up with demand, suggests Philip Huang, chief risk officer at
Orient Futures Singapore.
“The infrastructure is stable and capable of supporting
electronic FX trading,” he says. “That said, most liquidity in Asia is still
concentrated in Tokyo (TY3), which remains the main price discovery centre.
While Singapore (SG1) has strong CNH liquidity, broader G10 and regional FX
liquidity is still largely anchored in Tokyo, New York, and London.”
MAS Builds E-Trading Infrastructure
Over the last few years, MAS has been working with banks and
trading platforms to build up Singapore’s e-trading infrastructure. The
regulator hopes this will improve price discovery and FX trade execution in the
region and provide market participants with reduced latency, better pricing,
and liquidity.
According to Malé, Singapore already has the fundamentals it
needs to support its future electronic FX ambitions in the form of deep
liquidity, global participation, and strong regulatory oversight.
Philip Huang, Chief Risk Officer, Orient Futures Singapore
“That is why it consistently ranks among the top FX centres
globally,” he says. “What is changing now is how firms trade, as more risk is
managed across asset classes.
For us, FX is part of our broader multi-asset
platform, which allows participants to manage currency exposure alongside
equities, rates, and commodities. That integrated set-up strengthens
Singapore’s role in a market that is becoming more electronic and
interconnected.”
Connectivity and Matching Engines
Singapore’s rise as a major global FX centre has been
closely linked to improvements in connectivity and trading infrastructure, and
the city-state now benefits from strong regional and international network
links, local matching capabilities, and an increasingly sophisticated
institutional ecosystem—all of which support low-latency electronic trading,
explains Peddada.
“From our perspective, the ability to operate local matching
engines across key FX centres—including Singapore, Tokyo, London, and New
York—plays an important role in mitigating latency in a global market,” he
says. “By matching trades closer to end users, participants can access
liquidity more efficiently without relying solely on offshore infrastructure.”
South East Asia Colocation Data Center Portfolio Report 2025: Singapore Dominates the Existing Market with a Power Capacity of More Than 780 MW – pic.twitter.com/OrYIF0TofQ
— Latest News from Business Wire (@NewsFromBW) January 6, 2026
Future Electronic FX Challenges
Given Singapore’s status as a fast-growing and systemically
important FX hub, Peddada believes the combination of low-latency
infrastructure, deep connectivity, and institutional participation positions
the market to play a leading role in the next phase of electronic FX
development.
Huang also agrees that Singapore has the connectivity and
technical infrastructure needed to support further growth in electronic FX
trading, although he acknowledges that other challenges remain.
“The bigger issue is where pricing is generated,” he
concludes. “Many liquidity providers still run their main pricing engines in
other regional hubs. For Singapore to strengthen its position as an electronic
FX hub, more liquidity providers would need to originate pricing directly from
SG1 rather than simply distribute prices from other regional centres.”
