Citi has expanded its FX markets team in Asia with the appointment of two new individuals, according to an internal memo seen by The TRADE. Anand Goyal was appointed head of FX institutional sales for Japan, Asia North, Australia and Asia South, based in Singapore. Goyal joins from JP Morgan where he had been serving as head of macro FX and real money sales for Asia Pacific. Alongside him, Hooi Wan Ng was appointed head of markets for Malaysia. She also joins from JP Morgan where she had been serving as head of local corporate sales and private side sales.

Hugh Whelan was named head of liquidity management and data strategy at SGX FX, having previously worked as head of CME Group owned EBS Direct. Specifically, London-based Whelan will be responsible for overseeing the strategic direction and growth of the liquidity provider client segment. He is also set to develop the data products within SGX FX. Whelan’s career has had a strong focus on FX markets, having previously led the launch of EBS Direct into a new bilateral FX trading venue – which is now owned by CME Group.  

Muzinich & Co appointed George Kierton as a trader based in London. He joined from Amundi, where he spent the last two and a half years, most recently as a senior fixed income trader. Elsewhere in his career, Kierton served as a fixed income trader at BMO Global Asset Management and MUFG.

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Hugh Whelan

The move comes as SGX FX seeks to bolster its liquidity provision and data offering. 

Jean-Philippe Malé, president at SGX FX, said: “[Whelan’s] vision and expertise in building strategic partnerships with liquidity providers and technology service vendors worldwide will be instrumental in this next chapter of our growth. 

“With his proven track-record in FX markets, Hugh is uniquely positioned to lead our efforts in enhancing our platform and expanding the SGX FX franchise globally.” 

Specifically, London-based Whelan will be responsible for overseeing the strategic direction and growth of the liquidity provider client segment. He is also set to develop the data products within SGX FX.

Whelan’s career has had a strong focus on FX markets, having previously led the launch of EBS Direct into a new bilateral FX trading venue – which is now owned by CME Group.  

Speaking to his appointment, Whelan, said: “I am thrilled to join SGX FX at such an exciting time in the company’s growth. I look forward to collaborating with the team to enhance our platform offerings and ensure we maintain a competitive edge in a fast-evolving market.”

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Tim Hutchinson

Specifically, the partnership is through SGX FX’s eFX trading solutions platform for global buy-side institutions. 

Roger Lee, SGX FX’s global head of sales, said: “This collaboration is emblematic of a shared vision to support and advance the global FX trading environment, pairing SGX FX’s cutting-edge EMS solutions with RMB’s market expertise and liquidity.”

RMB is recognised as the primary dealer by volume in USDZAR spot FX and through its inclusion, traders will benefit from a selection of neutral mid, inventory skewed USDZAR spot FX Electronic Spot Pricing (ESP), Request for Streams (RFS) and access to FX forwards and swaps through RFS.

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“The unique liquidity proposition offered by RMB is an aggregate of our sizable onshore corporate and institutional franchises, which, in turn, allows for our electronic FX (eFX) pricing to be active and competitive during both South African and London business hours (7 am to 7 pm SA time),” explained Tim Hutchinson, head of FX and electronic execution at RMB.

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Specifically, the development focuses on risk exposures between FX futures settlement and OTC FX spot prices.

“With the adjustment in our FSP, our customers who are trading spot or options in USD/CNH, for example, can establish a hedge via our SGX USD/CNH FX futures and options seamlessly and efficiently,” said KC Lam, global head of FX and rates at SGX Group.

“[…] By moving our FSP to 2:00 pm Singapore time, we are not only making it easier for customers to exercise their options into underlying futures listed on SGX FX, but also facilitating the price discovery and liquidity management across Asian and European time zones.”

Beginning with SGX FX’s May 2024 FX futures contracts, the exchange will use Bloomberg Foreign Exchange Fixings Spot Rate (BFIX) as the official reference rate to determine the FSF for its CNH contracts against USD, EUR, and SGD.

The FSP publication time will be changed by the exchange to 14:000 Singapore Time to align with common OTC FX options expiry at 15:00 Tokyo Time, to capture Asian and European liquidity.

SGX added that this development was driven by feedback and demand from customers who wanted to minimise basis risks and have greater certainty in trading.

Colin Gallagher, BFIX benchmark and currency indices product manager at Bloomberg Index Services, added: “With our BFIX offering, over 5,000 fixings are generated every half hour where markets are open and with its unique time-weighted average price methodology, provides an accurate and transparent representation of up-to-date FX pricing. We look forward to continued partnership with SGX FX to bring these benefits to life through their product offerings.”

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Released through its eFX and digital assets trading solutions provider, MaxxTrader, the tool curates FX and digital assets price and trade data before automatically generating actionable insights to a stakeholder – providing quicker and easier decision-making abilities.

Large sets of FX data are analysed by the tool, including trades, price streams, user activities, execution quality, market impact, and profitability, which are then transformed into actionable insights which are presented in digestible stories and charts.

“Gone are the days of spending copious amounts of time sifting through reports, FX traders can now gather tangible insights such as changes in average hold times of the top 10 liquidity providers in a matter of seconds,” said Vinay Trivedi, chief operating officer at MaxxTrader.

“With its enhanced capabilities in analysing client data insights alongside a bank’s internal data, the tool creates stronger client engagement and redefining efficiency standards across FX. Whether identifying that a client is trading less, or detecting rejected quotes on specific pairs, the tool liberates traders to seek answers to key questions.”

This development is the latest technology innovation from SGX FX, enabling banks and broker-dealers to more effectively manage risk and achieve trading objectives.

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