Surging volatility across metals and a renewed focus on risk
management are reshaping how liquidity is priced, accessed and managed across
FX and CFD markets, according to senior industry executives speaking at the
Finance Magnates Singapore Summit 2026.
The panel, which brought together liquidity providers,
brokers, exchange operators and market makers, highlighted a market
increasingly defined by fragmentation, shifting client behavior and a more
cautious approach to risk following sharp moves in gold and other commodities.
Panelists broadly agreed that liquidity
fragmentation, particularly between interbank pricing and retail broker
quotes, remains entrenched, even if conditions have marginally improved since
late 2025.
More from the event: “For Southeast Asia, You Definitely Need IB”: FM Singapore Summit 2026 Lessons
Alex Mackinnon, CEO for Asia at Finalto, noted that extreme
pricing disparities seen during gold’s rally in late 2025 have narrowed, but
not disappeared. “The fragmentation is still there. It’s probably narrowed a
bit,” he said, pointing to a period when retail brokers were quoting spreads
“sub-10 cents when the real market’s probably 30.”
That gap has since adjusted, with brokers now pricing “north
of 15 cents,” bringing them closer to institutional benchmarks. However,
Mackinnon added that brokers continue to face pressure to tighten spreads
despite underlying market constraints.
Stavros Economides, COO at Match-Prime Liquidity, reinforced
that structural differences in broker models continue to drive pricing
divergence. “We see sometimes retail brokers provide very tight, below-market
conditions… this you can do only if you have your own books,” he said, warning
that such strategies require significant balance sheet capacity to absorb
potential losses during volatile periods.
Metals Dominate, and Distort, the Landscape
A central theme throughout the discussion was the industry’s
heavy reliance on gold and, increasingly, silver—assets that have become focal
points for speculative activity and liquidity stress.
Mohammad Isbeer, Alex Mackinnon, Stravros Economides, Grace Chan, Yoann Turpin, Vinay Trivedi
Grace Chan, Executive Director at Phillip Nova, said the
issue extends beyond recent volatility, though recent market moves have
amplified its impact. “Volatility probably put it into the limelight,” she
said, noting that diversified client flows across asset classes can help
brokers manage liquidity imbalances.
Still, shifting client interest away from gold remains a
persistent challenge. “Gold has been the asset that investors and traders… have
been trading for a really long time,” Chan said, adding that the rise in
speculative activity over the past decade has only deepened that concentration.
Yoann Turpin, Co-founder of Wintermute, attributed this
concentration to leverage and accessibility. Gold, he argued, offers “the
cheapest way where [traders] can get the most leverage,” making it a natural
magnet for speculative capital.
At the same time, Turpin pointed to a broader convergence
between crypto and traditional markets, with traders increasingly moving
capital fluidly between asset classes in search of volatility. This has spurred
interest in products such as tokenized commodities and weekend trading, further
complicating liquidity dynamics.
Risk Management Takes Center Stage
If one area of consensus emerged, it was the industry’s
shift toward more conservative risk practices following sharp market
dislocations in early 2026.
Liquidity providers reported a clear increase in risk being
offloaded by brokers. “The volume we’re seeing from retail-facing brokers has
increased,” Mackinnon said, attributing this to tighter internal risk limits
and a reassessment of exposure following recent market shocks.
Economides echoed this trend, particularly among smaller
brokers. “They can’t afford big hits… so they reduce their levels,” he said,
adding that recent volatility has also led to more “toxic flow” and mispricing
opportunities in metals markets.
The consequences of poor risk management, panelists warned,
extend beyond individual firms. “The industry itself doesn’t want any
defaults,” Mackinnon said. “That will just put the industry back five to ten
years.”
For brokers, the challenge lies in balancing internalization
(B-booking) with external hedging (A-booking). As Vinay Trivedi, CEO of SGX
CurrencyNode, put it: “It’s not A or B—it’s somewhere in between. You find the
balance, you stay in the game. You lose the balance, you’re burnt out.”
Infrastructure and Trust Under Pressure
The discussion also highlighted the growing importance of
infrastructure resilience and liquidity access during periods of stress.
Trivedi argued that volatility exposes the underlying
structure of liquidity markets, prompting a “flight to safety” toward venues
and market makers with strong balance sheets and inventory. “People want to go
back to those market makers who are holding inventory… or to primary and
secondary markets where there’s a marketplace,” he said.
Access to diversified liquidity pools—including exchanges,
ECNs and bilateral relationships, has become critical to mitigating
fragmentation and execution risk.
Meanwhile, brokers are facing operational pressures beyond
pricing. Chan offered a glimpse into the day-to-day reality during volatile
periods, describing how teams monitor client exposure and funding levels into
the weekend. “Friday night becomes no longer happy hour,” she said, as firms
assess whether they have sufficient capital to withstand potential gaps.
Technology and the Next Fault Line
As markets become more automated, panelists warned that
technology risk is emerging as another critical vulnerability. Heavy reliance
on pricing engines, margin systems and cloud infrastructure leaves firms
exposed to outages at precisely the moments liquidity is most strained.
While not yet fully explored in the session, the reference
to past infrastructure disruptions, such as regional cloud outages, underscored
the fragility of increasingly digitized liquidity networks.
A More Cautious, Complex Market
Taken together, the discussion painted a picture of an
industry adapting to a more complex and risk-sensitive environment.
Fragmentation remains a structural feature, metals continue to dominate trading
flows, and brokers are recalibrating how much risk they are willing, or able to
hold.
At the same time, evolving client behavior, cross-asset
convergence and technological dependencies are adding new layers of complexity
to liquidity provision.
The result is a market where access to capital, technology
and diversified liquidity relationships is becoming as important as pricing
itself, and where, in periods of stress, the ability to manage risk may
ultimately define who remains standing.
Surging volatility across metals and a renewed focus on risk
management are reshaping how liquidity is priced, accessed and managed across
FX and CFD markets, according to senior industry executives speaking at the
Finance Magnates Singapore Summit 2026.
The panel, which brought together liquidity providers,
brokers, exchange operators and market makers, highlighted a market
increasingly defined by fragmentation, shifting client behavior and a more
cautious approach to risk following sharp moves in gold and other commodities.
Panelists broadly agreed that liquidity
fragmentation, particularly between interbank pricing and retail broker
quotes, remains entrenched, even if conditions have marginally improved since
late 2025.
More from the event: “For Southeast Asia, You Definitely Need IB”: FM Singapore Summit 2026 Lessons
Alex Mackinnon, CEO for Asia at Finalto, noted that extreme
pricing disparities seen during gold’s rally in late 2025 have narrowed, but
not disappeared. “The fragmentation is still there. It’s probably narrowed a
bit,” he said, pointing to a period when retail brokers were quoting spreads
“sub-10 cents when the real market’s probably 30.”
That gap has since adjusted, with brokers now pricing “north
of 15 cents,” bringing them closer to institutional benchmarks. However,
Mackinnon added that brokers continue to face pressure to tighten spreads
despite underlying market constraints.
Stavros Economides, COO at Match-Prime Liquidity, reinforced
that structural differences in broker models continue to drive pricing
divergence. “We see sometimes retail brokers provide very tight, below-market
conditions… this you can do only if you have your own books,” he said, warning
that such strategies require significant balance sheet capacity to absorb
potential losses during volatile periods.
Metals Dominate, and Distort, the Landscape
A central theme throughout the discussion was the industry’s
heavy reliance on gold and, increasingly, silver—assets that have become focal
points for speculative activity and liquidity stress.
Mohammad Isbeer, Alex Mackinnon, Stravros Economides, Grace Chan, Yoann Turpin, Vinay Trivedi
Grace Chan, Executive Director at Phillip Nova, said the
issue extends beyond recent volatility, though recent market moves have
amplified its impact. “Volatility probably put it into the limelight,” she
said, noting that diversified client flows across asset classes can help
brokers manage liquidity imbalances.
Still, shifting client interest away from gold remains a
persistent challenge. “Gold has been the asset that investors and traders… have
been trading for a really long time,” Chan said, adding that the rise in
speculative activity over the past decade has only deepened that concentration.
Yoann Turpin, Co-founder of Wintermute, attributed this
concentration to leverage and accessibility. Gold, he argued, offers “the
cheapest way where [traders] can get the most leverage,” making it a natural
magnet for speculative capital.
At the same time, Turpin pointed to a broader convergence
between crypto and traditional markets, with traders increasingly moving
capital fluidly between asset classes in search of volatility. This has spurred
interest in products such as tokenized commodities and weekend trading, further
complicating liquidity dynamics.
Risk Management Takes Center Stage
If one area of consensus emerged, it was the industry’s
shift toward more conservative risk practices following sharp market
dislocations in early 2026.
Liquidity providers reported a clear increase in risk being
offloaded by brokers. “The volume we’re seeing from retail-facing brokers has
increased,” Mackinnon said, attributing this to tighter internal risk limits
and a reassessment of exposure following recent market shocks.
Economides echoed this trend, particularly among smaller
brokers. “They can’t afford big hits… so they reduce their levels,” he said,
adding that recent volatility has also led to more “toxic flow” and mispricing
opportunities in metals markets.
The consequences of poor risk management, panelists warned,
extend beyond individual firms. “The industry itself doesn’t want any
defaults,” Mackinnon said. “That will just put the industry back five to ten
years.”
For brokers, the challenge lies in balancing internalization
(B-booking) with external hedging (A-booking). As Vinay Trivedi, CEO of SGX
CurrencyNode, put it: “It’s not A or B—it’s somewhere in between. You find the
balance, you stay in the game. You lose the balance, you’re burnt out.”
Infrastructure and Trust Under Pressure
The discussion also highlighted the growing importance of
infrastructure resilience and liquidity access during periods of stress.
Trivedi argued that volatility exposes the underlying
structure of liquidity markets, prompting a “flight to safety” toward venues
and market makers with strong balance sheets and inventory. “People want to go
back to those market makers who are holding inventory… or to primary and
secondary markets where there’s a marketplace,” he said.
Access to diversified liquidity pools—including exchanges,
ECNs and bilateral relationships, has become critical to mitigating
fragmentation and execution risk.
Meanwhile, brokers are facing operational pressures beyond
pricing. Chan offered a glimpse into the day-to-day reality during volatile
periods, describing how teams monitor client exposure and funding levels into
the weekend. “Friday night becomes no longer happy hour,” she said, as firms
assess whether they have sufficient capital to withstand potential gaps.
Technology and the Next Fault Line
As markets become more automated, panelists warned that
technology risk is emerging as another critical vulnerability. Heavy reliance
on pricing engines, margin systems and cloud infrastructure leaves firms
exposed to outages at precisely the moments liquidity is most strained.
While not yet fully explored in the session, the reference
to past infrastructure disruptions, such as regional cloud outages, underscored
the fragility of increasingly digitized liquidity networks.
A More Cautious, Complex Market
Taken together, the discussion painted a picture of an
industry adapting to a more complex and risk-sensitive environment.
Fragmentation remains a structural feature, metals continue to dominate trading
flows, and brokers are recalibrating how much risk they are willing, or able to
hold.
At the same time, evolving client behavior, cross-asset
convergence and technological dependencies are adding new layers of complexity
to liquidity provision.
The result is a market where access to capital, technology
and diversified liquidity relationships is becoming as important as pricing
itself, and where, in periods of stress, the ability to manage risk may
ultimately define who remains standing.
