Standard Chartered Bank has announced the completion of its first foreign exchange (FX) e-trade using its newly set-up FX e-pricing engine in Singapore. Reduced latency in the trade execution was significant.

Standard Chartered unveiled in June 2019 a plan to establish the e-engine in the first quarter of 2020, with support from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). 

This inaugural trade was executed with the bank’s counterparty, United Overseas Bank (UOB). Using the e-trading engine, Standard Chartered achieved a reduction in trade latency of over 80%. 

The first trade, conducted from 3.15 p.m. in Singapore on January 20, delivered a 40% increase in trading volume compared to the average daily volume in the same time period last week. Estimated profitability generated from the trading volume rose more than 30%.

Michele Wee, head of Financial Markets Singapore, Standard Chartered Bank, says, “As one of the major FX participants in Singapore, we remain committed to leveraging this new solution to effectively serve our clients’ currency and commodities needs by offering them a seamless and consistent pricing experience for their hedging requirements. 

“Our clients have a keen interest in going digital – FX e-trading volumes continue to grow year-on-year. In 2019, we have seen a 30% uplift in spot trading volumes via our e-channels. With the enhanced efficiency proven by this trade using the new e-trading and pricing engine, we expect this positive trajectory to continue.”

Standard Chartered’s e-trading engine offers its clients FX e-trading of 130 currencies and more than 5,000 currency pairs in spot, forward, swaps, non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) and options, as well as commodities e-trading for both precious and base metals.

The bank now operates four e-trading engines across the world in London, New York, Tokyo and Singapore.