Singapore's forex market is still king in Asia-Pacific

It is also third globally.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) bragged the Lion City remains the largest foreign exchange centre in the Asia-Pacific region and the third largest globally after London and New York, based on the 2016 Triennial Central Bank Survey by the Bank of International Settlements.

MAS revealed that the average daily trading volume of Singapore’s forex market swelled 35% to US$517 billion in April 2016 from US$383 billion in the same month three years ago. The city-state’s share of global forex volumes also rose to 7.9% this year compared to 5.7% in 2013.

“The expansion in Singapore’s forex market was chiefly driven by growth in G10 and Asian currencies such as CNY2 (78%), JPY (67%), GBP (60%) and KRW (55%). Foreign exchange swaps made up the largest traded foreign exchange product class in Singapore and accounted for 48% of all trades, followed by spot (24%) and forex forwards (20%),” MAS said.

Interest rate derivatives market also expanded, with average daily volumes surging 57% to US$58 billion in April 2016 as against US$37 billion three years ago, the second highest in Asia. The most actively traded instruments were AUD (25%), SGD (18%) and JPY (13%) interest rate derivatives, MAS added.