Forex.com Expands APAC Presence: Launches in Singapore

Forex.com, the retail trading brand owned by StoneX, has expanded its presence in the Asia-Pacific by launching its contracts for differences (CFDs) trading services from its new Singapore base. Announced today (Monday), locally registered StoneX Financial gained the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) licence to offer CFD trading services under the Forex.com brand.

Forex.com Eyes Singapore Traders

"This launch marks a strategic milestone in helping Singapore's retail traders access thousands of global CFD markets across top FX pairs, indices, shares, gold, silver and commodities," said Andy Hudson, StoneX’s Head of Retail – Singapore.

Forex.com is one of the popular brands in the CFDs market. It was first launched in 2001 in the United States and then expanded across markets in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. It remains one of the very few regulated forex brokers in the US.

StoneX took control of the brand after acquiring GAIN Capital in 2020 for about $236 million. Apart from Forex.com, GAIN Capital also operates the City Index brand. With the acquisition at the time, StoneX more than doubled the number of active retail accounts on its platform globally to 295,000. The platform now has over 400,000 retail accounts worldwide.

An Attractive Market

The Singapore launch of the Forex.com brand comes as the city-state remains attractive for retail trading service providers. According to Investment Trends, Singapore's leveraged trading market continues to contract towards pre-pandemic levels, yet maintains a significant market presence, with 73,000 potential investors still showing interest in CFD trading.

Despite the country’s small size, Singapore-based traders contribute significantly to the overall revenue of CFD brokers. London-listed IG Group generated £38.1 million from Singapore out of its total trading revenue of £451.7 million in the first six months of the ongoing financial year. The average revenue per user from the city-state also remains one of the highest.

Read more: CMC Moves Ahead in Australia, but IG Shows How Lucrative Singapore Is

“Since 2006, StoneX has supported its customers across APAC from our Singapore headquarters,” said Greg Kallinikos, StoneX’s CEO of APAC. “We are pleased to expand this service further by having Forex.com launch in Singapore and help us connect even more clients to markets. Forex.com customers in Singapore will benefit from dedicated support operating 24 hours a day, five days a week to meet their trading needs.”