The firm is expanding its footprint in the city-state with the launch of a new FX trading and pricing engine, which is planned for mid-2021.
Barclays will build out a local version of its cross-asset electronic trading platform BARX, which will include the rollout of the latest BARX Direct technology which combines next-generation pricing algorithms with ultra-low latency co-location connectivity, the British multinational investment bank announced on Wednesday in a statement.
It will be Barclays' fourth electronic FX trading hub globally, adding to existing platforms in New York, London and Tokyo.
«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,» Barclays said in the statement.
FX Trading Hub
Under the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) FX Trading Hub strategy, which aims to cement Singapore as the top FX trading center in Asia Pacific, firms like J.P. Morgan, Standard Chartered, UBS, Citi, BNP Paribas, Euronext, Jump Trading and XTX Markets have built their own regional trading infrastructure in the city-state.\
«The deployment demonstrates our increased commitment to our clients in Singapore and in the region. FX is an important growth area for the firm globally and critically this takes us from a 3-hub model to a 4-hub model,» said James Hassett, Barclays co-head of global emerging markets & G10 linear FX, and head of flow macro trading, Asia.
Job Cuts
Hassett relocated to Singapore from London in August 2020. He takes over from Pritpal Gill, head of FX trading in Asia Pacific, who was reportedly asked to leave after about 18 months with the British lender. His exit was part of Barclay’s broader efforts to reduce costs by cutting 100 senior jobs, mostly from its corporate and investment banking unit.
