Finance Magnates Intelligence spoke with Jay Mawji, CEO of STARPRIME, an institutional CFD liquidity provider and market maker, to discuss how liquidity provision is changing amid volatile markets, growing concentration in gold trading and advances in trading technology. Mawji discussed how STARPRIME managed extreme gold flows, as well as the challenges of 24/7 trading, stressed liquidity and the growing role of AI in execution and risk management.
Gold Rally Puts Liquidity to the Test
Gold was one of the strongest themes of the discussion. During the most intense phase of the rally, STARPRIME recorded a 60% increase in volumes, creating what Mawji described as a “perfect stress test” for its market-making model. While spreads across the wider market reached around 40c, he said STARPRIME maintained pricing between 6c and 8c without reducing liquidity depth. The firm also actively adjusted its LP pool, directing more flow towards providers willing to take risk and reducing allocations to those moving into a risk-off position.
According to Mawji, the experience has changed how the industry approaches gold risk. “It’s a whole different world now, a better world,” he said. In his view, many previous liquidity offerings had effectively been designed around a best-case scenario. Since the rally, overnight fees have increased, pricing has widened and market depth has become more restricted, reflecting a stronger focus on risk governance and the ability to manage order flow under different market conditions. He also noted that as much as 70% of order flow can now be flagged by LPs as “sharp”.
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What the FX/CFD Industry Could Look Like in 2030
Looking towards 2030, Mawji expects technology and risk management to reshape the structure of the FX and CFD industry. As brokers invest more heavily in their own trading technology and liquidity infrastructure, he believes “the middlemen” could increasingly come under pressure, with more activities managed internally. He also sees potential for peer-to-peer liquidity models and structures resembling Multilateral Trading Facilities. These are only some of the topics covered in our conversation, which also explored AI, stressed liquidity and new trading products.
Read the full interview with Jay Mawji on the FM Intelligence Portal.
