As the derivatives industry gathered in Singapore for FIA Asia 2025, it became clear that this year’s conference was more than an annual reunion of exchanges, brokers, clearinghouses and institutional participants. Spread across keynote addresses, fireside chats and panel discussions, the event revealed an industry at a critical inflection point, one that is being reshaped simultaneously by rapid innovation and rising systemic complexity.
Held at The St. Regis Singapore, the conference once again demonstrated why Asia is becoming a pivotal theatre for the global futures and options ecosystem. From the CEO-level conversations to highly specialised technical sessions, a common thread ran through the programme: the future of derivatives will be determined by how well the industry balances growth with resilience.
A Shift in Tone: Innovation as a Necessity, Not a Luxury
The conference opened with a palpable sense of focus. Speakers referenced geopolitical uncertainty, supply-chain fractures, liquidity fragmentation, capital-efficiency pressures, and the growing reality of cross-market exposures.
Throughout the panel discussions and fireside chats, a vision emerged: exchanges must reinvent themselves, and the region must take bolder steps to assert its relevance in global derivatives.
Exchange Leaders Set the Stage: Data, AI and Client-Driven Evolution
This tone crystallised during The Exchange Leaders Perspective panel. It featured heads of major global exchanges including SGX, Eurex, CME, ICE, NSE and Osaka Exchange. Rather than emphasising traditional exchange functions, the conversation quickly pivoted to data, AI, workflow integration and client-led product design.
SGX’s Loh Boon Chye framed it succinctly: innovation must begin with the client.
He pointed to SGX’s introduction of crypto perpetuals as an example of “listening closely” to evolving client portfolios and risk appetites. His message was echoed by CME’s Julie Winkler, who described a world where technology and analytics are advancing faster than product cycles , and where clients are often the ones signalling what the market should build next.
Meanwhile, ICE’s Maria Levanti unpacked how data has become a commercial backbone of the industry. With AI-driven surveillance capable of detecting trends invisible to human analysts, the role of exchanges is shifting toward that of a data and intelligence provider, not just a marketplace.
Eurex and Osaka Exchange added another dimension: integration. Clients increasingly want exchanges embedded into their workflow, their risk systems and their model pipelines. The future, the panel suggested, may be one where exchange functionality becomes almost invisible yet omnipresent.
By the end of the discussion, one conclusion was unmistakable: Asia must stay relevant not by imitating the West, but by anticipating where markets are headed.
Behind the Optimism: The Hard Realities of Risk
If the first panel offered a vision of innovation, the final panel on day 2 of the conference, Building a Resilient Future, grounded the conversation firmly in reality. Moderated by SG Securities’ Chris Bainbridge, the panel brought together senior leaders from Cboe Global Markets, LSEG, MSCI, Eurex and Marcus Goi, CEO of Orient Futures International (Singapore).
Here, the narrative shifted. Instead of discussing what exchanges could become, the panel confronted what the entire ecosystem must withstand.
Marcus’s contributions stood out for their clarity and candour. Speaking from the perspective of an Futures Commission Merchant (FCM), he described 2025 as “one of the most volatile years we have ever seen.”
But rather than referring only to market swings, he widened the lens:
“We are no longer only facing market risk. Today, credit risk, liquidity risk and counterparty risk have become just as critical.”
He pointed to real disruptions: like holiday-driven interruptions to cross-market arbitrage, and violent moves in metals such as silver, as signals that traditional risk frameworks are reaching their limits.
“Resilience must be predictive, not reactive.” Marcus Goi
Marcus emphasised a central theme of FIA Asia 2025: that resilience can no longer be defined by a firm’s ability to respond to crises. The next era of risk management will belong to institutions that can anticipate “stress” before it materialises.
His argument was straightforward:
- If a broker understands the stress patterns of its clients, and proactively mitigates those risks,
- Then the broker itself, and by extension, the wider market, becomes more stable.
This is the opposite of the traditional model where brokers simply react to margin calls and liquidity shocks as they occur.
He also warned that as exchanges push toward extended or even 24/7 trading, brokers may bear the brunt of operational risk:
“Cross-market strategies are already complex. Imagine one major market running 24/7 while another does not. The question is whether traditional infrastructure can support fund movements, collateral flows and liquidity management at such speed.”
The Broader Mood of the Conference: A Market in Transition
Across multiple sessions, including fireside chats, dialogue with regulators, and product-focused discussions, several trends kept resurfacing:
- Asia is positioning itself as the next hub for global derivatives.
North Asia is expanding aggressively; ASEAN markets are modernising; and institutional investors are more active across borders than ever before. - Data and analytics will be the new battleground.
Exchanges are competing not just on products, but on intelligence: from low-latency feeds to AI-powered surveillance. - FCMs are becoming systemically critical players.
Their responsibilities now include liquidity planning, credit controls, collateral optimisation, and safeguarding client portfolios in real time. - Market infrastructure is being re-examined.
Clearing models, margin approaches, settlement rails and operational processes are all under pressure to adapt. -
The retail investor wave in Asia is no longer secondary.
With middle-class expansion, education, and better product access, exchanges are thinking carefully about transparency, risk suitability and long-term engagement.
Looking Ahead to 2026: The Industry Stands at a New Starting Line
The closing discussions hinted at what lies ahead.
Asia’s exchanges are experimenting boldly. Clearinghouses are advancing capital-efficient models. Index providers are designing new hedging tools. Regulators are tightening standards while encouraging innovation. And market participants are preparing for an environment where price discovery is influenced not just by fundamentals, but by behaviour, liquidity, and geopolitical tension.
Marcus Goi of Orient Futures Singapore summed it up:
“Price dislocation today is no longer driven purely by economics. In 2026, our models must account for behavioural, geopolitical and structural drivers. Predictive analysis will be more important than ever.”
In many ways, this could be the guiding principle for FIA Asia 2025, a conference that captured both the promise and yet cautious optimism of modern derivatives markets.
If the past decade was about expanding market access, the next decade will be about strengthening the infrastructure underpinning that access.
Innovation will continue. But sustainability, responsibility and resilience will define who leads the next chapter of global derivatives.
Start Trading with Orient Futures Singapore
Being an Overseas Intermediary of Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE), Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE), and Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE), when foreign clients participate in internationalised futures contracts in these Chinese markets with us, they have direct access to trading, clearing, and settlement. Our parent company, Shanghai Orient Futures, is the largest broker in terms of aggregated volume across the five regulated exchanges in China.
Orient Futures Singapore also currently holds memberships at the Singapore Exchange (SGX), Asia Pacific Exchange (APEX), and ICE Futures Singapore (ICE SG). Starting August 2023, corporate clients can also gain access to the B3 Exchange through us, opening additional trading avenues.
Expect streamlined processes and an easy-to-use interface designed for minimal latency, accompanied by our team’s round-the-clock availability on trading days to provide assistance for all your trading needs.
