The first day of the Singapore FM Summit 2026 set a clear tone: market structure, not marketing slogans, is now at the heart of the conversation in finance in the Asia-Pacific region. At Suntec Singapore, brokers, banks, fintech builders and liquidity specialists spent the opening day breaking down how trading has changed from the ground up.
Singapore Summit: Meet the top APAC brokers you know (and those you don’t know yet!).
On the fairgrounds, it was impossible to miss the rise of proprietary businesses. A significant portion of exhibitors focused on assessment systems, risk controls, and technology stacks specifically designed for support models, indicating how “commerce as a service” has become a mature line of business.
Among the many insights shared: Integral’s Judy Goh led an insightful discussion on bullion markets in the Asia-Pacific region, focusing on the key idea: Bullion should not be treated as just another CFD product.
Related to: “Our mission is to educate, not dictate”: Sessions of the 2026 Foreign Minister’s Summit begin in Singapore
The panel, which included Alexander Ferguson (Woodside), John Murillo (B2Broker), Alex Ho (CMC Markets) and Kwai Guan Tan (World Gold Council), explored the practical realities of operating in modern physical metals markets.
Unlike CFDs, which are purely speculative instruments that allow traders to bet on price movements without taking possession of the underlying asset, trading physical bullion involves real-world complexities such as storage, insurance, transportation, delivery logistics, and different purity standards across different markets.
In the Asia-Pacific region specifically, these operational realities become even more important as cultural preferences for physical gold ownership, regulatory frameworks around precious metals, and treasury storage and settlement infrastructure differ significantly from Western markets.
A cross-cultural journey in global markets
Spencer Campbell, director of SE Asia Consulting, described his move from London to Singapore during the era of open trading, where employees worked longer hours than traders and used physical trading cards – blue for buy orders and red for sell orders – similar to electronic systems today.
He also shared how his London trading symbol “FUN” cannot be used in Singapore because it has an unintended meaning in Chinese, illustrating how small cultural differences can impact global trading environments.
𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗙𝗠 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗲
Here at Finance Magnates Summit, we had the opportunity to meet with leaders from across the investing and trading ecosystem to discuss how BridgeWise and AI are shaping the future… pic.twitter.com/M0aXaN2d9I
– BridgeWise (@BridgeWiseAI) May 13, 2026
“I moved from London to Singapore 28 years ago, because there was still open protest, and as a novice writer, our days were much longer than the traders’. They traded for the time they were in the hole, and gave up.”
“What I brought with me today are our trading cards, and as you can see here, the front side is blue and the other side is red. The blue is our buy order, the red is our sell order which will look familiar to you on electronic trading screens today. But when I tried to come to Singapore and get the same trading symbol, it wasn’t allowed because in Chinese it means rice. It’s the little things. It’s the little things, yeah.”
In the Visioning phase, Luke Boland, Global Head of FinTech at Standard Chartered Bank Singapore, joined a panel of industry experts titled “Deep Buying: Digital Asset Adoption in Asia Pacific and Beyond,” where they explored how current market dynamics are impacting long-term strategies and highlighted emerging opportunities ahead of the next market cycle. He also shared insights into the evolving digital asset landscape.
“As more traditional assets move to blockchain technology, digital assets are transforming business processes and financial flows, with banks playing a critical role in supporting this transformation. A significant opportunity is emerging at the crossroads of infrastructure, connectivity and trust as financial services continue to adapt to the increasing digitization of money.”
Finance Magnates Summit Singapore 2026, which will be held from May 12 to 14 at Suntec Singapore, It was launched on Tuesday with an inaugural networking session at Paulaner Brauhauswhich brings together retail brokers, prime brokers, liquidity providers, banks, hedge funds, wealth managers and fintech companies from across the Asia Pacific region.
Finance Magnates Singapore 2026 Summit is Finance Magnates (well-known B2B financial event organiser, 1st Singapore Summit). It can also be considered the Asia-Pacific version of the closed business conference of finance + payment + digital assets + trading infrastructure. Let’s talk about collaboration. pic.twitter.com/c0W5xCeYWM
-Andy Wang (@JustWhaleIt) May 13, 2026
The three-day event includes panel discussions and sessions on topics including the Asia-Pacific liquidity landscape, AI implementation for brokers, tokenization, premium client strategies, along with an exhibition showcasing trading techniques and fintech solutions.
Looking to the future: payments, item trading, and platform innovation
The final day of the FM Summit Singapore features eight panel discussions covering digital assets, regulatory frameworks and broker innovation. Sessions begin at 11:30 a.m. with a discussion on stablecoins, immediately followed by a critical examination of the backing trading landscape in the Asia-Pacific region, among other topics.
Great words in @financemagnates Singapore Summit today!
our @jakub_ceo He just moderated an excellent panel on “Outrageous Forecasts? Retail Brokers and Event Contracts” – very insightful discussions on the super cycle in volumes, and how brokers approach forecasting/event… pic.twitter.com/OFVjCTLvvG
— For traders (@fortraderscom) May 13, 2026
The afternoon agenda shifts focus to infrastructure and growth strategies, starting at 2:00 pm with a session on payments infrastructure for financial super apps, along with a panel exploring whether brokers and banks should buy or build their own trading technology.
The day concludes with two simultaneous sessions starting at 3:10pm: one examining the necessity of multi-asset offerings as part of a modern broking strategy, and the other analyzing the challenges of capturing retail investors across the Asia-Pacific region.
The first day of the Singapore FM Summit 2026 set a clear tone: market structure, not marketing slogans, is now at the heart of the conversation in finance in the Asia-Pacific region. At Suntec Singapore, brokers, banks, fintech builders and liquidity specialists spent the opening day breaking down how trading has changed from the ground up.
Singapore Summit: Meet the top APAC brokers you know (and those you don’t know yet!).
On the fairgrounds, it was impossible to miss the rise of proprietary businesses. A significant portion of exhibitors focused on assessment systems, risk controls, and technology stacks specifically designed for support models, indicating how “commerce as a service” has become a mature line of business.
Among the many insights shared: Integral’s Judy Goh led an insightful discussion on bullion markets in the Asia-Pacific region, focusing on the key idea: Bullion should not be treated as just another CFD product.
Related to: “Our mission is to educate, not dictate”: Sessions of the 2026 Foreign Minister’s Summit begin in Singapore
The panel, which included Alexander Ferguson (Woodside), John Murillo (B2Broker), Alex Ho (CMC Markets) and Kwai Guan Tan (World Gold Council), explored the practical realities of operating in modern physical metals markets.
Unlike CFDs, which are purely speculative instruments that allow traders to bet on price movements without taking possession of the underlying asset, trading physical bullion involves real-world complexities such as storage, insurance, transportation, delivery logistics, and different purity standards across different markets.
In the Asia-Pacific region specifically, these operational realities become even more important as cultural preferences for physical gold ownership, regulatory frameworks around precious metals, and treasury storage and settlement infrastructure differ significantly from Western markets.
A cross-cultural journey in global markets
Spencer Campbell, director of SE Asia Consulting, described his move from London to Singapore during the era of open trading, where employees worked longer hours than traders and used physical trading cards – blue for buy orders and red for sell orders – similar to electronic systems today.
He also shared how his London trading symbol “FUN” cannot be used in Singapore because it has an unintended meaning in Chinese, illustrating how small cultural differences can impact global trading environments.
𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗙𝗠 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗲
Here at Finance Magnates Summit, we had the opportunity to meet with leaders from across the investing and trading ecosystem to discuss how BridgeWise and AI are shaping the future… pic.twitter.com/M0aXaN2d9I
– BridgeWise (@BridgeWiseAI) May 13, 2026
“I moved from London to Singapore 28 years ago, because there was still open protest, and as a novice writer, our days were much longer than the traders’. They traded for the time they were in the hole, and gave up.”
“What I brought with me today are our trading cards, and as you can see here, the front side is blue and the other side is red. The blue is our buy order, the red is our sell order which will look familiar to you on electronic trading screens today. But when I tried to come to Singapore and get the same trading symbol, it wasn’t allowed because in Chinese it means rice. It’s the little things. It’s the little things, yeah.”
In the Visioning phase, Luke Boland, Global Head of FinTech at Standard Chartered Bank Singapore, joined a panel of industry experts titled “Deep Buying: Digital Asset Adoption in Asia Pacific and Beyond,” where they explored how current market dynamics are impacting long-term strategies and highlighted emerging opportunities ahead of the next market cycle. He also shared insights into the evolving digital asset landscape.
“As more traditional assets move to blockchain technology, digital assets are transforming business processes and financial flows, with banks playing a critical role in supporting this transformation. A significant opportunity is emerging at the crossroads of infrastructure, connectivity and trust as financial services continue to adapt to the increasing digitization of money.”
Finance Magnates Summit Singapore 2026, which will be held from May 12 to 14 at Suntec Singapore, It was launched on Tuesday with an inaugural networking session at Paulaner Brauhauswhich brings together retail brokers, prime brokers, liquidity providers, banks, hedge funds, wealth managers and fintech companies from across the Asia Pacific region.
Finance Magnates Singapore 2026 Summit is Finance Magnates (well-known B2B financial event organiser, 1st Singapore Summit). It can also be considered the Asia-Pacific version of the closed business conference of finance + payment + digital assets + trading infrastructure. Let’s talk about collaboration. pic.twitter.com/c0W5xCeYWM
-Andy Wang (@JustWhaleIt) May 13, 2026
The three-day event includes panel discussions and sessions on topics including the Asia-Pacific liquidity landscape, AI implementation for brokers, tokenization, premium client strategies, along with an exhibition showcasing trading techniques and fintech solutions.
Looking to the future: payments, item trading, and platform innovation
The final day of the FM Summit Singapore features eight panel discussions covering digital assets, regulatory frameworks and broker innovation. Sessions begin at 11:30 a.m. with a discussion on stablecoins, immediately followed by a critical examination of the backing trading landscape in the Asia-Pacific region, among other topics.
Great words in @financemagnates Singapore Summit today!
our @jakub_ceo He just moderated an excellent panel on “Outrageous Forecasts? Retail Brokers and Event Contracts” – very insightful discussions on the super cycle in volumes, and how brokers approach forecasting/event… pic.twitter.com/OFVjCTLvvG
— For traders (@fortraderscom) May 13, 2026
The afternoon agenda shifts focus to infrastructure and growth strategies, starting at 2:00 pm with a session on payments infrastructure for financial super apps, along with a panel exploring whether brokers and banks should buy or build their own trading technology.
The day concludes with two simultaneous sessions starting at 3:10pm: one examining the necessity of multi-asset offerings as part of a modern broking strategy, and the other analyzing the challenges of capturing retail investors across the Asia-Pacific region.
