Goldman Sachs to Launch FX Pricing Engine in Singapore in Q1 2020

Singapore’s mission to become the foreign exchange (forex) hub in Asia has just gotten one step closer, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. announcing that it will be setting up an FX trading and pricing platform in the city-state.

According to a statement from Goldman Sachs on Tuesday, the multinational investment bank’s platform will go live in the first quarter of 2021. The platform aims to deliver improved low latency execution for its clients.

Furthermore, Goldman will bring its execution algo for non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) to Singapore, to enhance the depth and sophistication of the Asian forex market, according to Gillian Tan, executive director of financial markets development at Singapore’s central bank.

Goldman Sachs is building its pricing engine with the support of Singapore’s local regulator, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The currency pricing engine in Singapore marks the fourth for the bank, as it already has engines in London, Tokyo and New York.

Commenting on the new engine, E.G. Morse, Chief Executive of Goldman Sachs Singapore Pte said in the statement: “We continue to actively develop our presence in Singapore and have seen consistent growth of our franchise here over a number of years in both FX and broader global markets.”

Goldman Sachs joins the growing list of engines in Singapore

With Tuesday’s announcement, Goldman Sachs joins a number of Tier-1 banks to launch FX pricing and trading engines in Singapore. As Finance Magnates reported, UK bank Barclays announced earlier this month that it will be launching its own engine in mid-2021.

“It makes perfect sense for us to be part of this initiative and to further develop the FX market ecosystem in Singapore, and Asia as a whole,” added David Wilkins, Goldman Sachs global head of electronic FX distribution, in the statement.

Other banks that have set up engines in the country include JPMorgan, Citigroup Inc., Standard Chartered, BNY Mellon and UBS Group AG, among others. The move comes as Singapore’s local regulator, the MAS, aims to make the island state the Asian hub for FX.